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WILLIAM  LEE  HOWAKD  M.D. 


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BREATHE  AND  BE  WELL 


BOOKS  BY 
WM.    LEE   HOWARD,   M.D. 


SEX  PROBLEMS  IN  WORRY  AND 
WORK 

FACTS  FOR  THE  MARRIED 

PLAIN   FACTS    ON    SEX   HYGIENE 

CONFIDENTIAL    CHATS 
WITH  BOYS 

CONFIDENTIAL  CHATS 

WITH  GIRLS 
BREATHE   AND  BE   WELL 


BREATHE    AND 
BE    WELL 


BY 


WILLIAM   LEE   BROWARD,  M.D. 

Author  of 
"  Sex  Problems  in  Worry  and  Work,"  etc. 


NEW    YORK 

EDWARD  J.  CLODE 

PUBLISHER 


H^3 


^U    JUL       1948 


Copyright,  1916,  bt 
EDWARD    J.    CLODE 


All  Rights  Reserved 


r^ 

•^ 


FOREWORD 

Optimism  means  to  me  Humanity.  To 
be  impatient  with  humanity  is  stupid  pessi- 
mism. I  have  no  warfare  against  those 
who  have  neglected  their  latent  physical 
forces,  but  an  urgent  desire  to  show  them 
how  to  use  and  conserve  these  powers  and 
forces. 

The  general  public  are  not  upon  familiar 
terms  with  their  bodies.  They  are  better 
acquainted  with  diseases  than  with  health. 
Poor  health,  in  distinction  to  disease,  is 
almost  invariably  due  to  lack  of  under- 
standing that  the  body  is  a  machine  which 
must  have  proper  fuel  for  combustion  and 
its  boilers,  pipes  and  exhausts  must  always 
be  kept  clean — that  oxygen  must  be  sup- 
plied in  sufficient  quantity,  must  burn  up 
waste  material  every  living  minute  as  well 
as  supply  energy  and  new  living  stuff. 

The  secret  is  in  knowing  how  to  enlarge 

[v] 


FOREWORD 


the  combustion  chambers  and  control  intake 
and  outgo. 

The  purpose  of  this  little  book  is  to 
show  how  it  should  and  can  be  done  with- 
out littering  the  reader's  mind  with  physio- 
logical explanations  and  technical  terms 
and  details. 


[vi] 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.     General       Observations       upon 

Health 3 

II.  The  Morning  Fresh  Air  Cock- 
tail— The  Nightcap — How  to 
Breathe  Them  In  .       .       .       .       23 

III.     The  Little  Things  that  Prevent 

Proper  Breathing  ....       45 

IV.     Snoring — The  Causes  and  Cures       67 

V.     Breathing  for  Beauty — Breath- 
ing AND  Eating       ....       81 

VI.     Breathing    Through    the     Skin 

Necessary  for  Health  .       .       .     100 

VII.     New  Tissues  for  Old — Rejuven- 
ating THE  Body  and  Skin    .       .     117 

VIII.     Some  Simple  Breathing  Exercises     139 


BREATHE  AND  BE  WELL 


CHAPTER  I 

GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS  UPON 
HEALTH 

"  Most  of  the  ills  which  we  poor  mortals  know, 
From  doctors  and  imagination  flow." 

— ChURCHILI/. 

If  life  is  short  and  art  is  long,  why  not 
change  this  by  prolonging  life  through  the 
art  of  breathing?  A  rather  mixed  epigram, 
perhaps,  but  it  has  instructive  meaning. 
One  can  live  longer  and  live  better  by  know- 
ing how  to  breathe  properly;  and  knowing 
how  to  do  this  is  an  art  by  itself,  requiring 
patience  and  practice  as  well  as  the  riddance 
of  many  antiquated  ideas  of  man's  place 
and  work  in  this  world. 

I  learned  the  first  principles  of  the  art  of 

breathing  from  a  pet  horse.    He  is  now  a 

pensioner,  living  on  the  best  and  getting 

with  me  the  pure  country  air.    He  is  near- 

[3] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


ing  thirty  years,  but,  with  the  exception  of 
faihng  sight,  is  as  lithe,  handsome  and  full- 
muscled  as  a  youngster. 

Not  having  any  jumping  or  running  ex- 
ercises he  still  insists  upon  filling  his  lungs 
to  the  full,  when  let  out  in  the  paddock 
every  morning,  rain  or  shine,  snow  or  storm. 
He  takes  a  little  gallop,  then  stops  with  legs 
spread  outward  and  wide  apart,  lifts  his 
head  and  neck  until  there  is  no  bend  or 
stricture  of  the  breathing  canals,  and  gives 
a  loud,  whistling  snort.  This  snort  empties 
his  lungs.  You  can  see  his  big  chest  con- 
tract. He  does  not  then  take  a  deep  inhala- 
tion, but  continues  to  blow  out  of  his  lungs 
every  bit  of  stable  air.  This  accomplished, 
he  commences  slowly  to  take  in  air  until  his 
chest,  veins  and  arteries  fairly  swell.  His 
muscles  become  rigid,  and,  with  a  final  roar- 
ing snort,  the  exercise  is  over  for  the  morn- 
ing, and  he  starts  grazing. 

I  have  noticed  this  trick  with  all  big  ani- 
mals when  released  to  the  open.  I  have  also 
seen  feeble  attempts  by  those  kept  most  of 
[4] 


GENERAL   OBSERVATIONS   UPON  HEALTH 

the  time  in  close  stables  and  harnessed  be- 
fore they  can  open  their  lungs  to  their  real 
capacity.  Not  being  able  to  start  on  their 
daily  work  with  a  purified  physical  organi- 
zation, they  soon  grow  listless  and  aged  be- 
fore their  allotted  time. 

Most  of  us  are  stabled  animals  and  jump 
from  our  sleeping  stalls  to  put  on  tight 
neckwear  or  confining  waistbands  before  we 
have  had  a  good  snort  in  fresh  air  and  a  run 
around  the  paddock. 

If  a  blacksmith  pushed  down  the  bellows 
only  two-thirds  of  their  depth,  that  is  if  he 
failed  to  use  one-third  of  their  air  space,  the 
coals  would  fail  to  give  him  all  their  latent 
energy.  Also,  he  would  have  to  use  more 
effort  himself  and,  in  the  end,  would  find 
left  over  many  half  or  partly  burnt  coals, 
clogging  ashes.  And,  unless  he  was  aware 
of  the  real  cause,  he  would  put  the  blame 
upon  the  fuel. 

The  same  conditions  are  true  of  the  steam 
engine.  Its  drafts — bellows — must  be  given 
full  opportunity  to  throw  air  into  the  fuel; 

[5] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


get  all  possible  energy  out  of  it  and  leave 
only  fine  ashes.  If  these  conditions  do  not 
prevail,  potential  energy  is  dissipated,  fire- 
boxes become  clogged  and  pipes  and  boilers 
lined  with  the  by-products  of  insufficient 
combustion.  Then  come  all  sorts  of  trou- 
bles; sometimes  the  intricate  machinery  is 
ruined — goes  to  the  scrap  heap. 

Many  men  and  women  go  to  the  human 
scrap  heap  for  similar  reasons.  They  have 
not  known  just  how  to  pump  the  human 
bellows — the  lungs ;  get  energy  out  of  every 
ounce  of  fuel,  keep  their  arteries  and  veins 
clean,  kidneys  and  liver  from  being  poi- 
soned by  unconsumed  material. 

Fresh  air  is  the  staff  of  life.  No  man 
or  woman  can  reach  the  best  possible 
growth  and  development  if  deprived  of 
fresh  air  for  a  few  hours  every  day.  One 
may  live  in  a  room  where  fresh  air  con- 
stantly circulates,  yet  not  get  its  benefit 
through  wrong  starts  in  the  morning  and 
ignorance  of  the  right  methods  of  breath- 
ing. 

[6] 


GENERAL   OBSERVATIONS    UPON  HEALTH 

We  cast  off  and  put  on  new  growths 
every  minute  of  our  lives.  Growing  old  in 
the  fifties  or  sixties  is  an  unnatural  state 
of  affairs.  It  is  a  symptom  of  careless- 
ness, or  ignorance  of  the  human  machine. 
Let  every  cell  in  the  body — and  the  body 
is  only  an  aggregation  of  differentiated 
cells — receive  blood  purified  by  oxygen, 
and,  organic  disease  being  absent,  the  man 
or  woman  of  sixty  can  keep  on  renewing 
health  and  energy.  Yes;  even  if  at  this 
age  there  is  a  clogging  of  unburnt  stuff; 
creaking  joints,  difficult  breathing  upon 
physical  effort,  rapid  heart-beats;  you  can 
renew  somewhat  your  whole  body.  You 
can  clean  out  the  deleterious  material  and 
start  afresh. 

If  you  will  recall  the  lives  of  famous 
singers  you  will  be  surprised  to  notice  how 
long-lived  they  were,  and  how  full  of 
energy  and  charm  are  those  now  living 
who  have  passed  their  threescore.  Now, 
one  of  the  first  things  a  singer  has  to  learn 
is  to  breathe  correctly. 
[7] 


BREATHE   AND   BE   WELL 


When  you  attempt  to  run  some  distance 
there  comes  a  "  stitch  in  the  side."  It  is 
a  good  sign  for  you  if  you  profit  by  it. 
It  is  good  to  exercise  to  the  point  of  get- 
ting that  "  stitch."  What  it  really  means 
is  that  you  have  discovered  a  large  area  of 
unused  lung  cells  which  you  did  not  know 
existed  in  you.  These  have  remained 
closed  most  of  your  life,  since  the  passing 
of  childhood  and  its  games,  and  are  now 
opening  to  receive  the  fresh  air  you  are 
pumping  in  through  extra  efforts  to 
breathe. 

These  unused  cells  are  slightly  stuck  to- 
gether and  collapsed  upon  themselves. 
The  sharp  pain  is  due  to  the  air  forcing 
them  apart.  When  you  keep  going  and 
the  distress  is  over,  you  get  into  what,  in 
sporting  terms,  is  called  "  second  wind." 
You  are  then  using  all  your  bellows'  ca- 
pacity and  force.  You  are  burning  a  lot 
of  stored-up  waste  material  and  also  giving 
new  life  to  internal  organs. 

It  is  not  the  tall,  big-boned  individual 

[8] 


GENERAL    OBSERVATIONS    UPON   HEALTH 

who  lives  the  longest  and  best  resists  dis- 
eases. It  is  the  big-chested,  compact  man 
and  woman,  for  it  is  equally  necessary, 
even  more  important,  for  the  woman  to 
have  big  lung  space. 

About  one-third  of  lung  capacity  is  un- 
used by  the  average  person.  This  third 
is  the  lower  portion  of  the  lungs — ^where 
you  get  that  "  stitch  in  the  side." 

The  human  bellows  differs  from  the  me- 
chanical in  having  its  leathery  covering  con- 
tain a  spongy  mass  of  air  cells.  Around 
these  air  cells  flows  the  blood.  It  reaches 
every  cell  open  for  it.  Remember  this  dis- 
tinction— "  every  cell  open  for  it."  All 
impurities  in  the  blood  are  burnt  up  by  the 
oxygen  sent  to  it.  Then  the  building 
blood  is  sent  by  means  of  the  arteries  to 
every  portion,  organ  and  cell  in  the  body. 
Upon  its  return  to  the  lungs  by  the  way  of 
the  veins  and  right  heart,  it  carries  waste 
stuff  in  the  form  of  carbonic  acid,  which 
is  thrown  off  when  you  exhale  your  breath. 

Right   here   is   where   so  many   breathe 

[9] 


BREATHE   AND    BE    WELL 


wrongly — they  take  deep  inhalations,  but 
neglect  the  absolutely  necessary  forcible 
exhalations.  You  can  do  as  the  horse  does 
in  this  matter  without  the  audible  snort. 
Those  who  practice  deep  breathing  usually 
try  to  see  how  full  they  can  inflate  the 
chest,  but  not  how  completely  they  can 
empty  it. 

In  the  human  machine  the  burning  and 
purifying,  the  cleansing  and  renewing  are 
intended  to  keep  the  body  active  and  young 
from  the  root  of  the  hairs  to  the  little  toe 
nail.  And  in  all  animals  free  in  the  open, 
it  is  an  involuntary  act  and  should  be  so 
in  man.  But  too  often  man's  neglect 
of  his  mechanical  forces  leads  to  self-de- 
struction. If  there  is  any  mechanical  ob- 
struction, such  as  too  tight  shoes  or  garters, 
wrong  sitting  postures,  as  examples,  which 
prevents  the  blood  from  carrying  away  dead 
material  from  the  toe  and  replacing  it  with 
new,  we  have  the  commencement  of  death 
in  the  toe.  This  is  true  of  any  part  of 
the  body  where  there  is  some  interference 
[10] 


GENERAL   OBSERVATIONS   UPON  HEALTH 

or  interruption  of  the  blood  flow,  or  what 
is  better  said,  of  the  fresh-air  effects  of 
proper  breathing. 

This  rotting  off  of  an  extremity  we  call 
gangrene.  Poor  or  imperfect  circulation 
is  the  real  cause  of  this  most  horrible  con- 
dition, and  imperfect  circulation  is  mostly 
due  to  imperfect  breathing,  barring  the  me- 
chanical obstructions.  To  be  sure,  gan- 
grene usually  occurs  in  the  aged;  aged  be- 
cause the  individuals  have  not  used  the  full 
capacity  of  their  lungs  during  active  life. 
The  gangrene  occurring  among  wounded 
soldiers  is  quite  another  matter,  although 
here  its  primary  cause  is  mechanical — shot 
wounds,  allowing  the  entrance  of  noxious 
gases  and  germs.  In  the  present  world 
war  it  is  complicated  by  the  breathing  in 
of  poisonous  gases. 

But  the  destruction  of  extremities  and 
even  internal  organs  in  the  aged  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  as  the  years  have  gone  on  the 
blood  has  had  less  and  less  oxygen  to  send 
to  the  extremities  to  burn  up  the  soot  clog- 

[11] 


BREATHE   AND   BE   WELL 


ging  the  tiny  arteries  and  veins.  Yet  all 
these  destroying  conditions  might  have  been 
avoided. 

The  woman  who  eats  rich,  nitrogenous 
food,  is  tightly  laced  and  never  more  than 
half  breathing,  leaves  a  lot  of  unburnt  fuel 
in  her  system.  When  attacked  by  indiges- 
tion, and  later  on  finds  she  has  inelastic 
arteries — hardening  of  the  arteries — she 
blames  the  food  and  starts  dieting — the 
very  worst  thing  she  could  do. 

What  such  a  woman  needs  is  freedom  to 
breathe  way  down  to  the  bottom  of  her 
abdomen — "  stomach  " — allow  oxygen  to 
set  fire  to  the  waste  material ;  release  energy 
for  abdominal  muscles  to  work.  Under 
these  natural  conditions  she  could  eat 
anything  within  reason  and  preserve  her 
form. 

Fashion  for  women  makes  the  superflu- 
ous necessary  in  clothes,  but  it  also  causes 
a  superfluity  of  flesh  which  is  an  abomina- 
tion. To  attempt  to  show  how  necessary 
it  is  to  dress  so  as  to  breathe  in  such  a 
[12] 


GENERAL   OBSERVATIONS   UPON  HEALTH 

manner  as  to  keep  thin,  is  like  trying  to 
bore  a  hole  in  a  cloud. 

You  can  burn  off  fat  by  internal  com- 
bustion. You  can  keep  the  flesh  firm,  and 
all  your  body  curves  and  attractions,  by 
the  habit  of  proper  breathing.  Doctors, 
diet  and  distress  are  kept  away  by  the 
woman  who  uses  to  the  full  her  breathing 
apparatus.  The  same  applies  to  the  over- 
fat  man. 

Most  people  fail  to  develop  chest  ca- 
pacity to  its  fullest  extent  even  through 
systematic  exercise,  because  the  powerful 
pushing  muscle  of  the  human  bellows  is  not 
developed  and  kept  under  voluntary  con- 
trol when  needed. 

This  muscle  is  the  diaphragm — a  big  flat 
muscle.  It  forms  the  floor  of  the  chest 
cavity  and  separates  it  from  the  abdominal 
cavity.  In  other  words  the  trunk  of  the 
body  is  a  two-story  building.  The  upper 
story  is  where  you  really  live  and  keep 
your  resources;  the  lower  story  where  you 
[13] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


send  down  from  the  living-room  all  the 
used  and  unneeded  things. 

Here  the  janitor  and  his  assistants — in- 
testines, liver  and  other  abdominal  organs 
— sort  them  out  and  place  them  where  they 
belong. 

The  blood  renewed  by  the  air  you  have 
let  into  the  upper  apartment,  the  food 
teeth  and  stomach  have  mixed  and  moist- 
ened, are  also  sent  down  by  way  of  the 
arterial  and  intestinal  stairways  making 
through  the  diaphragm  or  the  floor  separat- 
ing the  upper  and  lower  apartments. 

At  rest  the  diaphragm  is  dome-shaped 
with  the  curve  upward.  In  this  position  it 
of  course  decreases  the  size  of  the  upper 
story.  In  action  it  works  just  like  the  sides 
of  bellows.  When  you  take  a  breath  it 
flattens  out  and  with  a  full,  deep  breath  it 
curves  downward.  This  movement  further 
increases  the  chest  cavity. 

Here  is  the  really  important  point,  es- 
pecially for  women  and  for  men  who  have 
built  on  swaying  bay-windows:  In  the 
[14] 


GENERAL   OBSERVATIONS    UPON  HEALTH 

downward  push  of  the  diaphragm  the  ab- 
dominal contents  are  forced  ahead  of  it — 
down  and  forwards.  If  the  muscles  of  the 
abdomen,  external  and  internal,  are  in  good 
condition  and  under  voluntary  control,  they 
further  press  and  massage  the  internal  or- 
gans. This  means  good  tone  to  the  lower 
intestines  and  this  also  means  avoidance  of 
constipation.  So  you  see  that  a  well- 
developed  chest  action  affects  even  remote 
organs. 

Breathing  so  as  to  inflate  the  lungs  to 
the  full,  is  notice  to  the  janitor  and  his 
assistants  in  your  basement  to  throw  out 
the  ashes  and  garbage. 

In  exhaling  the  whole  process  is  re- 
versed. The  abdominal  muscles  contract. 
In  this  movement  they  push  the  abdominal 
organs  against  the  diaphragm.  This  latter 
muscle  rises  in  the  center,  thus  forcing  out- 
ward the  deleterious  air  in  the  lungs. 

These  facts  show  you  that  to  breathe  and 
be  well  means  a  lot  more  than  simple  in- 
spiration and  expiration  of  pure  air.  The 
[15] 


BREATHE   AND   BE   WELL 


diaphragm  is  the  muscle  to  look  after,  for 
it  pushes  both  dead  matter  out  and  draws 
pure,  live  matter  into  the  body. 

The  diaphragm  is  the  midriff  of  Shake- 
speare's time.  It  has  always  played  its 
part  in  humorous  descriptions  of  bellied 
men  and  laughing,  jovial  fellows.  Like 
most  parts  of  the  human  body  it  has  had 
its  share  in  drama  and  literature,  myths 
and  superstition.  Old  Melanchthon  styles 
the  laughing  muscle  Generosum  mem- 
brum — a  generous  part.  The  writers  of 
the  middle  ages  stated  that  the  man  with 
small  or  weak  midriff  was  sour,  melan- 
cholic; the  man  with  a  generous  middle 
muscle,  jovial,  gay  and  long-lived.  If 
Hamlet  had  been  put  through  a  training  of 
proper  breathing  it  is  probable  that  the 
melancholy  Dane  might  have  had  some  Fal- 
staffian  traits;  big,  fatty  Lady  Macbeth 
been  free  of  her  optical  illusions  and  de- 
pressions. 

The  real  reasons  for  these  distinctions  so 
well  put  by  the  old  writers,  is  only  further 
[16] 


GENERAL   OBSERVATIONS    UPON   HEALTH 

proof  that  careful  observations  of  men's 
moods  show  that  they  are  governed  by 
physiologic  laws. 

The  merry  man  is  a  laughing  man. 
Laughter  is  the  best  exercise  for  the 
diaphragm;  spontaneous,  refreshing  laugh- 
ter. The  dour,  thin-bellied  and  small- 
chested  man  gives  his  midriif  no  exercise 
through  pleasing  laughter.  The  court 
jesters  of  old,  the  professional  laugh-maker 
today,  may  be  dwarfed,  mis-shapen,  but  he 
is  big-chested  way  down  to  the  sides  of  his 
diaphragm.  His  stories  and  antics  un- 
doubtedly saved  many  men  and  women 
from  doctors'  lancets  and  leeches,  by  forc- 
ing them  to  cast  out  and  burn  up  waste 
material  through  hearty  laughter — which 
means  that  big  and  strong  breathing  mus- 
cles were  unconsciously  developed. 

The  man  without  a  sense  of  humor  can 
never  utilize  his  full  lung  power;  hence  his   . 
blood  is   always   short   of   oxygen,   tissues 
are  underfed,  and  the  resulting  effects  in- 
crease his  disagreeable  personality. 

[17] 


BREATHE   AND    BE    WELL 


I  knew  Mark  Twain  personally;  saw 
much  of  him  when  he  was  in  his  physical 
prime.  He  often  loaned  his  stable  loft  for 
us  boys  to  use  as  a  theater.  When  he 
laughed,  or  even  talked  animatedly,  you 
could  see  his  big  midriff  heave  and  take  in 
large  quantities  of  oxygen.  Yet  in  the 
eyes  of  the  ordinary  observer  Mr.  Clemens 
was  not  a  large  man.  But  his  engine 
power  was  great  and  this  enabled  him  to 
do  a  tremendous  amount  of  work  at  an  age 
when  most  men  are  commencing  to  let  up. 

It  has  always  been  observed  that  the  fat, 
stout  man  is  a  jolly,  laughing  chap.  But 
if  you  carefully  notice  these  cheerful  men 
you  will  see  that  the  stoutness  is  not  that 
of  over-fatness,  pendent  abdomens,  but 
due  to  big  chests  and  midriffs  well  sup- 
plied with  a  normal  reserve  of  fat. 

Such  should  be  all  men  of  middle  and 
later  life.  These  well-preserved  men  and 
women  have  power  and  space  to  breathe 
correctly.  They  laugh  because  oxygen — 
the  real  laughing  gas — is  a  stimulant  act- 
[18] 


GENERAL   OBSERVATIONS    UPON   HEALTH 

ing  upon  a  healthy  mentality.  The  flabby, 
obtruding  abdomen  is  due  to  weak  and 
undeveloped  abdominal  muscles  and  dia- 
phragm and  small  chest  capacity.  In- 
dividuals of  this  sort  of  physical  make-up 
are  bilious,  choleric  and  disinclined  to  go 
beyond  a  smile  under  the  most  humorous 
conditions. 

The  average  man  or  woman  pays  more 
attention  to  the  movements  of  the  ribs, 
trying  to  get  them  to  rise  and  fall  with 
increasing  expansion,  than  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  abdominal  muscles.  These 
muscles  are  really  the  pushing  force  for 
the  human  bellows.  Chest  exercises  are 
quite  necessary  for  health  and  longevity, 
but  never  reach  their  full  beneficial  powers 
unless  the  abdominal  muscles  are  equally 
developed  and  kept  in  the  best  of  con- 
dition. 

Nowadays  we  are  talking  and  reading  a 
lot  about  national  preparedness,  but  what 
is  of  paramount  importance  is  to  under- 
stand the  necessity  and  value  of  body 
[19] 


BREATHE   AND    BE    WELL 


preparedness  to  keep  off  the  enemies  all 
around  us  in  the  air  and  food,  and  to 
prevent  physical  laziness.  The  danger  of 
neglecting  our  defensive  weapons  and  prac- 
tice in  using  them,  threatens  many  other- 
wise careful  of  habits  and  exercise. 

"Before  the  curing  of  a  strong  disease, 
Even  in  the  instant  of  repair  and  health, 
The  fit  is  strongest." — King  John,  Act  II,  Sc.  4. 

Habits  of  living,  clothing,  constitutional 
and  inherited  affections  all  need  under- 
standing before  explicit  details  of  breathing 
can  be  given.  Here,  as  in  many  other 
things,  the  trite  saying  that  "  what  is  one 
man's  poison  is  another  man's  food  "  most 
aptly  applies.  The  over-fat,  the  too  lean, 
the  sedentary  and  the  physically  active, 
each  needs  different  modes  and  methods  of 
learning  how  to  breathe  properly.  The 
girl  who  works  in  a  shop,  the  woman  in 
the  factory,  the  woman  of  society  and  the 
man  in  office  or  on  the  street,  all  need  to 
know  how  to  utilize  their  wasted  and 
[20] 


GENERAL   OBSERVATIONS   UPON  HEALTH 

neglected  power  for  getting  and  keeping 
in  perfect  condition;  living  long  and  work- 
ing contentedly. 

There  are  avoidable  lassitude,  unnecessary- 
headaches,  sleeplessness,  which  can  be  cured 
by  stopping  the  cause.  Nervous  instability 
and  the  craving  for  stimulants  or  drugs, 
infernal  restlessness  in  the  young,  are  many 
times  due  to  the  effects  of  wrong  breathing 
habits.  There  are  millions  of  men  and 
women,  children  and  adolescents  who  sleep 
while  the  retained  poisons  of  the  body  go 
on  injuring  nerves,  brain  and  other  deli- 
cate organs.  And  all  this  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  they  sleep  with  open  windows, 
believe  they  have  taken  in  fresh  air  dur- 
ing the  day  and  observed  the  generally 
accepted  rules  of  health. 

With  the  increase  of  industrial  plants  in 
this  country  has  come  an  enormous  in- 
crease of  occupational  diseases  due  to  the 
intake  of  gaseous  and  chemical  irritants 
and  poisons.  These  afflicted  and  threat- 
ened workers  need  careful  instruction  and 
[21] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


to  be  given  a  knowledge  of  preparedness 
and  defense. 

There  is  scarcely  a  disease  that  does  not 
have  its  enemy  in  the  blood  or  lymph — an 
enemy  ready  to  war  and  overthrow  the  host 
of  disease  germs.  But  unless  the  roads 
and  passes  are  clear  and  ready  to  the  re- 
motest organ  or  vessel,  they  cannot  do  their 
allotted  work.  Just  because  man  has  not 
kept  clean  and  free  the  highways  and  by- 
ways in  the  body  for  his  internal  allies 
to  march  over  when  called,  is  the  cause  of 
disease.  And  these  highways  and  byways 
for  the  host  of  fighting  bodies  to  rush  over 
only  can  be  kept  clear  and  free  by  know- 
ing how  to  breathe. 


[22] 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  MORNING  FRESH  AIR  COCK- 
TAIL—THE NIGHTCAP— HOW 
TO  BREATHE  THEM  IN 

I  HAVE  frequently  watched  a  trout 
breathe  as  it  quietly  rested  in  clear  water. 
Its  breathing  is  regular,  rhythmic,  without 
effort.  He  always  seeks  the  waters  flowing 
over  pebbles  or  coarse  sand,  as  if  there  was 
more  oxygen  in  the  little  stirrings.  Let 
your  shadow  fall  upon  the  water  and  the 
fish  is  seen  to  disappear  in  just  one  poly- 
chromatic flash. 

If  you  have  patience — and  unless  you 
have  the  patience  of  determination,  you 
will  never  learn  the  secrets  of  nature — ^you 
may  see  your  trout  return,  but  now  breath- 
ing rapidly  and  deeply.  His  gills  open 
wider  and  close  quicker  than  before.  After 
a  few  moments  in  his  resting  pool  he  will 
[23] 


BREATHE   AND   BE    WELL 


slowly  move  up  to  where  there  is  more 
action  in  the  water — air  bubbles.  Now  he 
will  be  seen  to  breathe  deeply,  very  deeply. 
The  gills  open  so  you  can  see  the  red  of  his 
blood.  Slowly  he  back-paddles  until  he 
again  resumes  his  former  place  and  his 
gills  commence  to  open  and  close  in  effort- 
less motions. 

What  that  trout  did  was  to  recover  a 
normal  heart-beat  after  a  fright  had  caused 
it  to  jump  beyond  its  usual  rate.  When  he 
returned  to  his  resting  place  he  found  there 
had  been  more  blood  pumped  into  his  lungs 
than  oxygen  to  take  care  of  it.  So  he 
moved  up  to  where  there  were  more  air 
bubbles,  breathed  deeply  a  few  times,  got 
rid  of  heart-stimulating  stuff,  then  dropped 
down  to  easy  and  involuntary  lung  and 
heart  action. 

Had  he  been  chasing  his  lure,  jumping 
rapids  or  playing  leap  frog  with  the  sun 
rays,  he  would  not  have  been  compelled  to 
have  searched  for  an  extra  amount  of 
air.  There  being  no  fright  to  upset  the 
[24] 


THE   MORNING   FRESH   AIR    COCKTAIL 

regular  control  of  the  breathing  through 
the  nervous  system,  he  would  have  had 
only  to  rest  while  the  lungs  adjusted  their 
rhythm. 

In  man  as  well  as  in  animals,  fright, 
extreme  worry,  shocks,  affect  the  breath- 
ing habits  temporarily  or  permanently. 

Civilized  man  does  not  know  the  how  or 
why  of  breathing  so  as  to  get  the  best 
out  of  himself.  Instead  of  starting  him 
right  in  this  matter  it  has  been  left  to  the 
involuntary  action  of  muscles  and  their 
control  by  the  nervous  system.  This  con- 
trol will  carry  the  ordinary  individual 
through  the  average  length  of  life  as  we 
know  it,  but  a  trained  breathing  apparatus 
will  enable  man  or  woman  to  add  to  the 
length  of  life  and  keep  life's  activity  up  to 
good  and  profitable  working  conditions. 

In  most  matters  connected  with  indi- 
vidual health  forces  and  resources,  we 
are  less  knowing  or  instinctive  than  ani- 
mals. Physically  we  are  less  protected  by 
nature  than  any  other  organism.  We  are 
[25] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


more  exposed  at  all  points  to  the  assaults 
of  danger  and  disease.  We  are  more  liable 
to  perish  from  cold,  succumb  to  heat,  die 
from  starvation.  Yet  we  have  the  intel- 
ligence when  used  to  so  clothe,  eat  and 
breathe  as  to  give  us  an  endurance  far 
surpassing  any  animal. 

We  have  a  greater  reserve  force  in  our 
breathing  capacity  than  animals,  which,  if 
properly  developed,  keeps  the  blood  warm 
and  full  of  those  cells  which  are  active 
enemies  to  disease  germs. 

As  I  write  this  the  papers  are  full  of 
reports  of  deaths  from  pneumonia.  Promi- 
nent people,  the  young,  the  sturdy,  the 
athletic,  are  dying  from  this  germ  infec- 
tion. Many  victims  of  this  quick-killing 
infection  have  been  those  careful  of  their 
health  habits,  big-chested,  accustomed  to 
breathe  in  what  they  considered  the  cor- 
rect way.  But  the  one  little  thing  which 
would  have  enabled  them  to  have  had  the 
pneumonic  germs  killed  at  the  start  was 
overlooked.  They  did  not  keep  the  air 
[26] 


THE    MORNING   FRESH   AIR    COCKTAIL 

passages  from  the  nostrils  to  the  bronchial 
tubes,  absolutely  clear  and  clean.  This  is 
the  gateway  for  the  germs,  and  being  un- 
guarded, in  they  swarmed  to  find  a  splen- 
did breeding  and  camping  place — and  the 
bigger  the  chest  capacity  the  bigger  the 
camp. 

This  naturally  brings  us  to  the  subject 
of  what  is  fresh  air  under  the  conditions 
most  of  us  have  to  live,  and  why  and  how 
to  keep  dirt  and  dust  out  of  the  external 
air  passages. 

The  average  individual  expels  every  hour 
about  twenty  cubic  feet  of  air.  Remember 
this  means  that  in  a  closed  room  everyone 
in  it  is  throwing  this  amount  of  dead  or 
poisoned  air  into  it.  Without  any  ventila- 
tion whatever,  this  air  would  have  to  be 
rebreathed  and  death  would  only  be  a  mat- 
ter of  time  and  individual  resistance.  But, 
of  course,  these  conditions .  do  not  prevail. 
We  have  all  kinds  of  ventilation  in  houses, 
big  buildings  and  shops.  We  try  to  get 
rid  of  this  twenty  cubic  feet  of  air  exhaled 

[27] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


by  each  person  by  pumping  about  3,000 
cubic  feet  of  outside  air  into  the  room. 
With  this  outside  air  comes  no  end  of  dust 
and  germs,  microbes  and  other  wigglers. 
It  readily  can  be  seen  that  too  much  of 
this  kind  of  air  is  of  little  benefit  if  not 
actually  dangerous,  did  we  not  possess  in 
our  air  passages  enemies  of  these  intruders. 
Such  air  is  always  a  danger  to  those  who 
do  not  know  how  to  keep  their  air  passages 
immune  to  microbic  invasion. 

But  another  evil  of  this  method  of  ven- 
tilation: As  the  outside  air  pours  into  the 
room  it  stirs  up  all  sorts  of  impurities 
which  have  harmlessly  settled  upon  the 
floors  and  puts  them  into  circulation. 
Every  breath  we  take  in  such  a  room 
carries  some  sort  of  dirt  or  germ  toward 
the  lungs.  When  the  New  England  house- 
keeper takes  her  broom  and  other  frighten- 
ing tools  to  give  the  house  its  semi-annual 
stirring  up  and  cleaning  out,  including  her 
husband,  she  starts  the  germs  and  foul  dust 
circulating.  No  wonder  that  she  and  her 
[28] 


THE    MORNING   FRESH   AIR    COCKTAIL 

children  have  their  Spring  colds,  catarrh, 
"  bad  coughs  "  and  pneumonia.  I  suppose 
this  sort  of  house  cleaning  and  dusting  is 
necessary,  but  it  should  be  done  when  all 
the  members  of  the  household  can  be  away 
and  stay  away  for  several  days — until  the 
germs  and  dust  left  have  been  allowed  to 
again  settle.  A  dust  mask  always  should 
be  worn  by  those  who  are  in  the  midst  of 
swirling  germs. 

According  to  Dr.  C.  F.  Bennet,  a  noted 
ventilating  engineer,  the  air  everywhere 
contains  quantities  of  dust  and  infective 
material.  Even  in  mid-ocean,  when  the 
air  is  at  its  best,  there  are  six  microbes  to 
every  cubic  foot,  and  in  New  York  prob- 
ably 80,000  to  every  foot. 

All  this  interests  us  in  our  subject  of 
correct  breathing  because  it  shows  we  can- 
not avoid  the  presence  or  even  the  breath- 
ing in  of  microbes.  It  also  brings  comfort 
to  those  who  have  been  under  the  impres- 
sion that  it  was  impossible  for  persons  liv- 
ing in  city  rooms  or  working  in  shops  to 
[29] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


derive  health  and  secure  immunity  by  any 
method  of  breathing.  It  would  appear  at 
the  first  thought  that  the  less  force  one 
put  into  breathing  the  less  chance  of  tak- 
ing in  dust  and  germs.  There  is  no  man 
or  woman  living  who  does  not  daily  breathe 
in  disease  germs.  The  germs  of  consump- 
tion, of  pneumonia,  for  example,  are  ever 
floating  about.  Those  who  escape  are 
many — the  great  majority.  But  there 
comes  a  time  when  the  strongest  are  in- 
fected. There  is  only  one  way  to  avoid 
this  fatal  time:  keeping  the  air  passages 
clear  and  clean  and  never  leaving  over  in 
the  lungs  any  unburnt  material.  Of  course 
all  these  statements  presume  a  careful  ob- 
servance of  the  general  rules  of  health  in 
other  matters. 

There  are  peoples  who  live  so  near  to  na- 
ture that  they  are  perforce  living  examples 
of  what  breathing  fresh  air  will  do  for 
man.  Those  who  have  read  Gogul's 
"  Tar  as  Bubul,"  which  is  really  "  one  tre- 
mendous shout  of  joy,"  will  realize  the 
[30] 


THE   MORNING   FRESH   AIR   COCKTAIL 

tremendous  power  given  to  all  men  who 
live  in  the  wild  spaces — that  is,  in  the  open. 
Immense  vitality  is  what  Gogul  shows  in 
those  men  who  are  ever  breathing  air  sat- 
urated with  oxygen.  The  American  In- 
dian's vitality  and  endurance  were  won- 
derful. 

When  Russia  needed  men  of  endurance 
it  was  the  open-air  breathing  Cossack  she 
called  to  her  aid.  No  matter  about  their 
other  traits,  even  if  you  do  believe  all 
newspaper  accounts.  I  do  not  believe  them 
all  because  I  know  the  Cossack.  What 
we  must  consider  is  the  utilitarian  ends 
they   accomplished   for  Russia. 

Wildness  is  only  harmful  when  it  is 
licensed.  Governed  wildness  is  power. 
You  cannot  get  this  wildness  or  vitality 
from  vitiated  air. 

Several  fresh-air  cocktails  should  be 
taken  every  morning  before  dressing.  One 
of  the  most  important  things  to  do  to  make 
ready  for  the  morning  drink  of  oxygen, 
and  one  generally  overlooked,  is  to  un- 
[31] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


twist  the  internal  arteries  and  veins  and 
stretch  the  capillaries.  These  latter  are 
the  very  fine  endings  of  blood-vessels:  a 
meshwork  of  such  thin  and  tiny  tubes  that 
the  blood  in  them  can  pass  growing  ma- 
terial through  their  walls  and  take  up  dead 
stuff  from  the  surrounding  tissues. 

When  you  are  fully  awake,  stretch  your 
arms  above  your  head.  Stretch  until  you 
feel  or  hear  the  joints  and  tendons  are 
tense.  You  may  hear  a  sort  of  snap  in 
shoulder  or  elbow,  especially  if  you  are 
one  of  the  kind  who  have  been  accustomed 
to  get  out  of  bed  with  a  slide  and  lazily 
shove  yourself  into  your  clothes  with  a 
sigh  and  a  slump. 

After  a  tense  stretch  of  the  arms  and 
shoulders  stretch  both  legs.  Push  them  out 
together  at  first  and  twist  them  upon  them- 
selves. Then  extend  as  far  as  possible,  un-^ 
til  you  actually  feel  it  lengthen,  one  leg  at 
a  time.  Do  this  four  or  five  times.  Now 
get  out  of  bed  slowly.  Never  jump  out 
of  bed  or  get  up  with  a  sudden  start. 
[32] 


THE   MORNING   FRESH   AIR   COCKTAIL 

Sometimes  in  strange  places  you  might 
find  this  advice  impossible  to  follow,  but 
under  those  conditions  you  will  not  have 
remained  long  enough  to  have  the  rapid 
change  from  recumbency  to  a  stretching 
position  do  any  harm. 

To  suddenly  get  out  of  bed  after  a 
night's  sleep  is  too  much  of  a  shock  to  the 
heart  and  nervous  system,  which,  like  any 
piece  of  machinery,  must  be  started  slowly 
and  with  some  warning  of  the  work  to  be 
done. 

Many  headaches,  sometimes  palpitation 
of  the  heart,  cold  feet  throughout  the  day, 
indigestion  after  breakfast,  are  due  to  this 
sudden  starting  and  jolting  of  the  human 
machine.  This  especially  applies  to  those 
of  nervous  temperaments  and  the  seden- 
tary person,  the  over-fat  and  tippler. 

To  get  the  full  benefit  of  the  real  and 
only  natural  start  for  the  day  after  a 
night's  rest  of  all  the  organs,  you  should 
stand  naked  with  the  feet  on  some  warm 
stuff  —  not  necessarily  warmed.  Then 
[33] 


BREATHE   AND    BE    WELL 


stretch  the  arms  straight  above  the  head 
and  try  to  pull  the  whole  body  upwards  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  stretch  the  spinal 
column.  You  want  to  try  to  pull  on  the 
hips  by  reaching  upward  with  extended 
arms.  Sway  a  little  on  the  hips  as  though 
loosening  them  a  bit.  Then  pull  slightly 
on  one  side,  then  on  the  other,  finishing 
by  a  straight  extension  upwards. 

It  can  be  done  with  ease  after  a  little 
practice.  You  have  seen  a  dog,  upon  ris- 
ing, do  about  the  same  thing;  pull  and 
stretch  every  leg,  then  neck,  bend  his  body 
with  curve  downward  then  upward,  turn 
his  head  around  and  give  his  tail  a  pull? 
He  will  do  this  every  time  after  a  snooze 
and  before  he  will  even  chase  a  convenient 
cat.  He  starts  right,  and  this  is  the  cause 
of  his  gracefulness  and  activity,  unless  he 
has  contracted  the  habits  of  a  fatty  and 
lazy  mistress. 

If  you  are  measured  in  height  before  this 
spinal  extension  and  measured  after,  you 
will  find  your  height  increased  from  a 
[34] 


THE   MORNING  FRESH   AIR   COCKTAIL 

quarter  to  half  an  inch.  In  certain  cases, 
especially  in  the  man  not  over  forty,  this 
may  be  increased. 

Yoii  see  that  during  the  day  the  verte- 
brae have  settled  down  upon  the  little  mats 
which  separate  them — one  between  each 
spinal  bone.  While  you  are  sleeping  their 
elasticity  has  been  restored  but  the  pres- 
sure of  the  day  before  not  altogether  re- 
lieved. These  spinal  mats  are  far  and 
away  superior  to  rubber  heels  in  relieving 
the  spine  and  head  from  the  constant 
shocks  and  jolts  received  in  walking.  In 
fact  that  is  just  what  they  are  for.  There 
are  many  of  them  and  they  will  not  wear 
out  if  you  know  how  to  care  for  them. 
By  the  method  I  am  advising  their  resili- 
ency may  be  renewed  each  day.  Then  you 
may  retain  that  "  springy  walk  "  evidential 
of  health. 

A  few  weeks'  practice  of  this  spine 
stretching  will  give  you  the  actual  ability 
to  start  every  morning  with  a  spinal  col- 
umn free  from  any  left-over  pressure,  its 
[35] 


BREATHE   AND   BE   WELL 


capillaries  freshly  ready  to  receive  the 
oxygenated  blood  you  are  to  send  them, 
and  retards  the  shortening  of  the  height 
which  accompanies  age.  Many  tender  and 
lame  backs  are  due  to  pressure  on  these 
little  spinal  mats.  The  exercise  outlined 
will  very  often  relieve  this  painful  con- 
dition. 

With  this  spine  exercise  goes  also  the 
stretching  of  abdominal  organs  and  abdomi- 
nal muscles.  Also  the  legs,  for  we  have 
not  yet  done  with  them. 

Bend  each  leg  upon  itself  until  the  heel 
strikes  the  buttock.  Do  this  several  times. 
Then,  alternately,  bring  up  each  leg  so  it 
straightens  out  at  right  angles  to  the  body. 
While  in  this  position  work  each  toe,  bend- 
ing it  backward  and  pulling  it  forward. 
Or  rather  try  to  do  this,  which  is  a  differ- 
ent thing  altogether  as  you  will  discover. 
You  will  derive  some  amusement  in  at- 
tempting to  get  voluntary  control  over 
each  toe  muscle;  also  you  will  learn  a  few 
important  facts  about  real  health.  You 
[36] 


THE   MORNING   FRESH   AIR    COCKTAIL 

will  realize  how  far  backward  or  forward, 
as  you  like,  you  have  gone  from  your 
arboreal  ancestors  who  could  use  their  toes 
as  readily  as  they  used  their  fingers.  It  is 
really  one  of  the  arts  we  should  have  re- 
tained for  perfect  health.  Because,  if  you 
want  a  perfect  circulation  all  over  the 
body,  if  you  desire  feet  free  from  corns 
and  pain,  pretty  pink  toes,  you  must  get 
this  control  over  each  toe. 

In  a  natural  state  man's  toes  should  be 
as  much  under  voluntary  muscular  control 
as  his  fingers. 

The  toes  are  under  voluntary  control  by 
men  of  all  races  which  have  not  in  some 
manner  paralyzed  or  caused  them  to 
atrophy — shrink — as  we  have.  The  Chi- 
nese custom  of  binding  the  feet  of  females 
is  one  extreme  of  toe  distortion  and  paraly- 
sis. Our  tight  shoes  and  the  confining  of 
our  children's  feet  in  stiff  footwear  instead 
of  permitting  them  to  run  barefoot,  is  a 
halfway  method  of  causing  distortion.  The 
Japanese — you  have  watched  their  jugglers 

[37] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


and  pole-climbers — have  complete  control 
over  their  feet  and  toe  muscles.  It  is  stated 
by  reliable  observers  that  the  three  great 
factors  which  made  the  Japanese  army  so 
formidable,  were  the  freedom  from  foot 
sores  and  foot  fatigue,  and  absence  of 
alcohol. 

But  we  are  doing  better  in  the  matter 
of  feet  distortion.  Styles  in  footwear  are 
changing  so  as  to  give  more  freedom  to 
the  toes.  Dancing  and  skating  are  going 
to  develop  these  freed  toes  and  their  tiny 
muscles. 

The  best  way  to  get  voluntary  control 
over  the  toe  muscles  is  to  work  all  the  toes 
at  once  until  there  is  developed  a  group 
control.  Then  by  mental  concentration, 
determination  and  knowledge  of  the  neces- 
sity of  individual  control,  you  can  accom- 
plish it. 

But  what  has  all  this  to  do  with  breath- 
ing? Everything!  There  is  no  use  learn- 
ing to  breathe  correctly  unless  every  organ 
is  in  the  best  condition  to  profit  by  your 
[38] 


THE   MORNING   FRESH   AIR   COCKTAIL 

full  intake  of  oxygen  or  unless  the  last  inch 
in  your  body  is  in  such  a  state  that  it  can 
readily  cast  off  every  particle  of  dead 
material. 

And  right  here  is  where  so  many  errors 
and  failures  occur  in  the  various  advised 
methods  of  "  deep  breathing."  It  has  been 
generally  overlooked  that  the  building  and 
renewing  effects  of  oxygen  can  reach  only 
those  parts  made  ready  for  them.  If  there 
is  any  part  of  the  body  that  is  not  con- 
stantly ready,  no  methods  of  breathing  ex- 
ercises can  possibly  affect  it.  Hence  you 
may  go  on  enlarging  your  chest,  obtaining 
greater  breathing  capacity  and  general 
power,  yet  find  in  the  end  there  is  some 
organ  or  muscle  still  remaining  inactive  or 
dying  for  want  of  good  blood  nourish- 
ment. 

Let  me  illustrate.  In  Massachusetts  we 
have  some  rather  severe  weather  in  the 
winters.  To  heat  an  old  New  England 
tavern  turned  into  a  house  of  modern  con- 
veniences, requires  a  formidable  heating 
[39] 


BREATHE   AND   BE   WELL 


plant.  From  the  furnace  in  my  house  to 
the  harness-room  is  a  distance  of  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  When  the  fur- 
nace fire  was  started  this  winter  all — as 
we  believed — of  the  radiators,  and  there 
are  fifteen  or  more,  gave  out  their  allotted 
amount  of  heat.  The  hot  water  circulated 
from  kitchen  to  attic,  from  study  to  labora- 
tory. But  it  was  discovered  in  time  that 
the  radiator  in  the  harness-room  was  cold- 
dead.  There  was  no  circulation  in  that 
radiator — ^the  toes  of  the  system.  It  meant 
harm  to  the  rest  of  the  circulatory  appara- 
tus. So  we  investigated.  The  toes  of  the 
whole  heating  system  were  constricted — 
clogged  completely. 

The  furnace  was  taking  in  oxygen  and 
burning  fuel,  giving  us  the  comfort  of  its 
energy,  but  its  breathing  was  of  no  value 
to  the  toe  radiator.  When  we  started  the 
circulation  in  that  toe  by  cleaning  out  its 
arteries  and  veins — ^the  inflow  and  the  out- 
flow pipes — it  received  the  full  benefit  of 
the  breathing  furnace  and  horses  and  dogs 
[40] 


THE    MORNING   FRESH   AIR    COCKTAIL 

were  made  comfortable.  But  more  than 
that;  we  saved  the  whole  system  from  being 
injured. 

So  must  you  see  that  all  the  little  pipes 
in  your  extremities  are  open  to  receive  the 
flow  and  return  of  warm  blood. 

To  go  back  to  our  stretching  and  body 
pulling.  You  are  now  ready  for  the  morn- 
ing fresh  air  cocktail.  Every  vein,  artery, 
capillary,  is  in  a  condition  to  receive  and 
digest  blood,  just  as  your  stomach  will  be 
to  receive  and  care  for  food. 

Assuming  you  have  slept  with  window 
open,  had  no  gas  or  lamplight  to  eat  up 
oxygen,  you  should  face  the  open  air  space 
and  empty  your  lungs. 

Snort  it  out.  Clear  and  clean  the  nos- 
trils of  all  accumulations  of  the  night  by 
forceful  snortings.  I  like  that  word  to 
express  my  idea  better  than  the  one  used 
by  the  French  doctors — s'egosiller.  Now 
take  a  partial  inhalation;  hold  it  for  twenty 
seconds,  imagine  yourself  an  exhaust  pipe 
of  a  motor  and  blow  outwardly. 
[41] 


BREATHE   AND   BE   WELL 


With  head  held  up  so  as  to  extend  the 
neck,  shoulders  back,  arms  at  side,  grad- 
ually commence  to  breathe  deeply  and 
slowly.  Fill  your  lungs  until  you  feel 
"  you'd  bust,"  then  let  them  empty  them- 
selves slowly  and  without  force.  Then, 
fifteen,  twenty  times  repeat  this  exercise 
and  you  will  find  the  feeling  of  blood  cir- 
culating from  temples  to  toes  beats  that  of 
the  noxious  alcoholic  cocktail  and  will  drive 
away  a  headache  quicker  and  keep  it  away 
by  the  correct  action  of  healthful  blood 
upon  the  brain  cells. 

Now  take  your  cold  plunge  or  shower, 
tepid  sponge  or  spray,  get  into  seasonable 
clothing  and  your  body  machine  is  fit  to 
do  the  day's  work  without  injury  to  any  of 
its  parts  and  well  supplied  with  lubricating 
material  and  pure  fuel. 

Advice  and  rules  regarding  the  fresh  air 
nightcap  really  belong  to  the  details  deal- 
ing with  vocations  and  the  day's  work. 
Many  men  and  women  are  advised  to  exer- 
cise before  retiring  for  the  night.  Most 
[42] 


THE   MORNING   FRESH    AIR    COCKTAIL 

persons  today  need  rest  and  not  mental  or 
physical  exertion  after  the  strains  of  their 
day's  efforts. 

But,  as  a  general  rule,  we  may  place 
as  the  primary  requisite  the  habit  of  clean- 
ing out  the  air  passages;  of  getting  rid  of 
all  the  accumulated  dust  and  microbes 
which  have  found  a  warm  and  moist  resting 
place  where,  if  given  time,  they  will  start 
something. 

The  mouth,  the  teeth,  the  nostrils,  the 
nose  passages,  all  need  nightly  attention. 
Never  use  salt  solutions  nor  any  chemical 
solution  to  wash  out  these  air  canals.  Just 
plain  water,  neither  hot  nor  cold. 

For  your  nightcap  expel  all  the  air  pos- 
sible from  your  lungs.  Pay  more  attention 
to  exhaling  than  to  inhaling.  The  latter 
movement  will  take  care  of  itself.  The  air 
seldom  has  any  trouble  in  getting  in,  but 
the  by-products  of  combustion  do  not  so 
readily  get  out  without  a  little  effort  on 
your  part — this  is  especially  true  at  night 
when  there  is  lessened  nervous  power. 
[43] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


By  practice  you  can  make  a  very  service- 
able vacuum  cleaner  of  your  mouth  and 
nostrils,  the  power  coming  from  chest  and 
abdominal  muscles,  the  development  and 
use  of  which  I  shall  explain  further  on. 


[44] 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  LITTLE  THINGS  THAT  PRE- 
VENT PROPER  BREATHING 

There  is  no  more  justification  for  hav- 
ing catarrh  than  for  having  habitual  cold 
feet.  However,  a  man  chronically  weakened 
by  an  avoidable  catarrh  has  some  excuse 
for  having  "  cold  feet "  and  letting  the 
yellow  streak  in  him  be  demonstrated. 

Catarrh  is  not  due  to  any  climatic  con- 
ditions nor  to  "  catching  cold."  It  is  a 
germ  infection  scattered  by  unclean  mucous 
membranes  which  spray  the  microbes  by 
the  sneezing,  coughing,  expectorating  car- 
rier. 

You  jump  away  with  alacrity  when  you 
hear  the  sound  of  a  rattlesnake  because  you 
know  what  its  warning  means.  You  should 
know  that  the  sneezing,  hawking,  spitting 
of  a  human  being  means  he  is  throwing 
[45] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


some  form  of  venom  into  the  air  for  you 
to  breathe  in.  We  cannot  at  present  en- 
tirely prevent  this  menacing  state  of  affairs, 
but  we  can  learn  how  to  protect  our  air 
passages  from  harboring  the  venom. 

I  repeat:  Catarrh  is  not  due  to  bad  air 
in  the  ordinary  meaning  of  this  term.  This 
brings  us  to  the  question:  Just  what  is 
"  good  air  "?    What  is  "  fresh  air  "? 

It  is  not  necessarily  outdoor  air.  It  is 
air  which  is  in  motion,  dry  and  cool. 
Fresh  air  and  cold  air  are  not  identical. 
There  are  certain  conditions  of  the  respira- 
tory tract  in  which  cold  air  is  injurious. 
It  acts  upon  inflamed  tissues  as  an  irri- 
tant, while  fresh  air  warmed  and  in  mo- 
tion soothes  and  heals.  It  can  be  set 
down  as  a  rule  that  fresh  air  is  a  healing 
and  repairing  factor  in  all  throat  and  nose 
troubles. 

There   is    no    such   condition   as    "  pure 

air,"  if  by  that  term  is  meant  air  which 

does  not  contain  bacteria  or  dust.     Fresh 

air    always    contains    bacteria    and    dust. 

[46] 


THINGS    THAT    PREVENT    PROPER    BREATHING 

Such  air  is  not  injurious  to  anyone  whose 
breathing  exits  and  entrances,  tubes  and 
pipes  are  in  a  healthy  condition — free  from 
inflammation  and  irritating  substances. 

Everyone  feels  better  in  fresh  or  out- 
door air;  so  does  an  invalid  or  depressed 
person;  hence  fresh  air — air  that  is  cool, 
cold  and  moving — should  be  the  kind  of  air 
getting  to  the  lungs. 

The  bracing,  cold  air  of  the  winter,  of 
the  mountains,  of  the  snow-covered  hills, 
is  always  beneficial.  But  there  is  a  cold 
air  state  to  be  avoided.  This  is  the  still, 
stagnant  air  remaining  in  unventilated  and 
unheated  rooms.  This  state  of  affairs  is 
mostly  found  in  those  country  homes  where 
guest  chamber  or  parlor  is  opened  only 
for  a  funeral  or  the  unexpected  arrival  of 
the  "  City  cousin."  This  cold,  but  STALE 
air  is  often  found  in  warerooms  and  cel- 
lars. While  I  am  writing  this  I  have  been 
called  to  see  a  sturdy,  outdoor  man  down 
with  a  severe  chill  and  a  very  bad  cough. 
No  amount  of  cold  air — the  outdoor  of  the 
[47] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


woods  and  fields — has  any  but  the  best 
effect  upon  him.  But  yesterday  he  went 
into  his  cellar  and  spent  the  day  sorting 
vegetables.  The  temperature  of  the  cellar 
air  was  not  so  low  as  that  of  the  outside 
air;  but  it  was  stale,  unmoving  and  un- 
moved. It  at  first  irritated  the  mucous 
membranes  of  his  breathing  machine  and 
the  cold  air  passing  over  this  inflamed  area 
resulted  in  disturbing  the  skin  action,  which 
regulates  the  body  temperature,  and  he  is 
in  for  a  period  of  severe  illness. 

Had  he  opened  the  cellar  windows  and 
door  for  a  few  hours  before  going  there,  no 
amount  of  the  outdoor  air  would  have 
affected  him. 

Remember  that  cold  air  which  is  stirring 
cannot  injure  or  affect  anyone — it  is  always 
beneficial.  Under  ordinary  conditions  it 
cannot  have  any  action  on  the  healthy  and 
clean  mucous  membrane  of  the  respiratory 
tract  below  the  trachea  or  largest  bronchi, 
because  it  will  be  warmed  before  it  reaches  it. 

There  is  no  necessity  of  worrying  about 
[48] 


THINGS    THAT    PREVENT    PROPER    BREATHING 

mechanical  ventilation  and  other  schemes 
to  warm  and  circulate  the  air  in  bedrooms. 
A  window  opened  at  the  top  about  half- 
way will  give  proper  ventilation  and  the 
air  of  the  room  warm  it  enough. 

The  disagreeable  nasal  tones,  voices 
which  sound  as  though  passed  over  a  steel 
rasp  and  the  strident  sibilations  typical  of 
New  England  people,  have  come  to  be  con- 
sidered a  national  trait.  The  snuffling, 
sniffling  nose  belonging  to  so  many  New 
England  people  and  their  descendants,  is 
almost  as  disagreeable  and  disgusting  as 
that  of  the  snuff -takers  in  the  Georgia  and 
Carolina  mountains.  It  is  impossible  for 
persons  afflicted  with  these  mucous  running 
noses  to  ever  breathe  so  as  to  be  well. 

A  generation  or  two  ago  it  was  a  com- 
mon experience  to  see  in  the  homes  of 
New  England  and  the  Middle  West  some 
sort  of  an  arrangement  for  inhaling  the 
fumes  of  heated  tar,  salt  solutions,  spray- 
er nose-douching  apparatus  as  supposed 
remedies  for  inflamed  air  passages.  Tin 
[49] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


pans  containing  patent  medicine  cures 
or  Grandmother's  Catarrh  Remedy  were 
covered  by  the  kitchen  funnel,  placed  up- 
side down,  and  each  member  of  the  family 
from  the  baby  to  grandfather  would  take 
turns  fastening  their  inflamed  nostrils  to 
the  small  end  of  the  funnel.  Later  came 
the  cursed  cocaine  powders  as  a  catarrh 
cure,  and  the  evil  effects  of  this  brain  and 
morality  destroyer  are  still  with  us. 

Superheated,  irritated,  nose  and  throat 
would  be  wrapped  in  rolls  of  knit  scarves 
or  mufflers — a  good  name  that,  for  these 
breathing  preventives — and  the  victims  go 
out  into  the  chilling  rain  or  sleet.  The 
nostrils  were  left  partly  free;  just  enough 
for  the  half-expired  air  to  freeze  on  the 
muffler  so  that  every  intake  of  air  passed 
over  a  miniature  frozen  waterfall,  grabbed 
all  grippe  and  pneumonia  germs  in  the  sur- 
rounding air,  and  these  were  sneezed  or 
coughed  into  the  lungs  of  others. 

This  bundling  of  nose  and  covering  of 
throat  caused  the  mucous  membranes  of 
[50] 


THINGS    THAT    PREVENT    PROPER    BREATHING 

throat  and  nose  to  become  an  active  bed 
for  disease  germs.  The  protective  cells 
were  deadened,  dried  up  in  the  nose  or  else 
rested  in  the  bronchial  tubes  and  the  inno- 
cent climate  blamed  for  the  catarrhal  state 
of  the  New  Englanders. 

It  was,  and  is  now,  individual  protection 
absolutely  neglected  through  ignorance  of 
the  methods  of  body  preparation,  which 
causes  epidemics  of  grippe,  influenza,  pneu- 
monia and  catarrh. 

The  injurious  effects  of  not  knowing  how 
to  breathe  correctly  have  left  anatomical 
obstructions  in  nose  and  throat  which  pre- 
vent any  efficient  breathing  in  these  in- 
dividuals. All  these  conditions  can  be  rec- 
tified and,  in  children,  prevented. 

Now  let  me  repeat:  All  defects  in  the 
air  passages,  as  well  as  the  unphysiologic 
conditions  arising  from  them,  must  be  cor- 
rected before  one  can  breathe  and  be  well. 

Starting  from  the  nostrils  we  find  at  the 
upper  end  of  the  internal  nose,  adenoids  or 

[31] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


little  wart-like  growths.  These  generally 
are  the  effects  of  neglected  "  colds  in  the 
head  "  in  the  infant  or  child  plus  the  irri- 
tating methods  of  treating  them. 

Further  back  is  the  uvula  or  soft  palate 
— ^that  little  tassel  of  flesh  which  so  often 
tickles  the  roof  of  your  mouth  or  slaps  the 
tonsils.  This  soft  palate,  as  you  know,  can 
be  seen  by  looking  down  the  mouth.  It 
may  be  too  long,  and  dropping  down  back 
of  the  hard  palate  causes  an  irritation 
which  gives  you  that  little  hacking,  cough- 
ing attempt  to  clear  the  throat  which,  of 
course,  only  adds  to  the  trouble. 

The  ordinary  elongation  of  this  tickler 
in  the  adult,  due  to  too  cold  air  reaching 
it  or  to  being  overworked  and  over-douched 
by  a  night's  "  good  time,"  will  shrink  or 
return  to  its  normal  size  if  left  alone.  But 
not  if  it  is  constantly  irritated,  for  then  it 
loses  its  tone  and  will  hang  as  a  very  an- 
noying block  to  any  and  all  attempts  to 
breathe  correctly — or  rather  any  attempt  to 
get  the  full  benefit  of  breathing  properly. 
[52] 


THINGS    THAT    PREVENT    PROPER    BREATHING 

This  soft  palate  is  a  hang-over  from  the 
time  we  had  to  breathe  through  gills — 
when  we  were  pollywogs  or  some  other  kind 
of  water  wigglers.  At  present  it  is  of  use 
to  us  as  a  push-button  warning  us  of  some 
inflammation  in  or  around  the  air  passages 
— inflammation  of  the  pharynx  for  ex- 
ample. Every  time  such  a  condition  exists 
the  palate  buzzes,  producing  a  peculiar, 
insistent  throat  cough:  a  "front,  there!" 
call. 

Then  there  are  those  much-abused  ton- 
sils; the  armored  and  armed  guardians  of 
the  throat.  They  have  been  cut,  slashed, 
and  not  infrequently  poured  out  life's 
blood — for  they  can  do  that.  They  have 
been  burnt,  seared  by  hot  irons,  scarred 
by  caustics  and  cautery  or  else  driven  to 
pus-making,  through  injurious  gargles  and 
washes.  But  happily  peace  has  been  de- 
clared and  the  sanguineous  war  against  the 
innocent  tonsil  is  now  a  matter  of  recent 
medical  history. 

Man's  best  guide  and  protector  to  him 
[53] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


who  breathes  right,  the  tonsils,  have  been 
tortured  and  denied  and  many  throats  to- 
day lack  protection  from  the  germs  of  air- 
born  diseases. 

Unless  the  tonsils  are  intact,  clean  and 
healthy,  you  never  can  breathe  correctly 
and  eifectively. 

Here  is  the  point:  By  letting  them  alone, 
washing  them  only  with  plain  water,  the 
habit  of  proper  breathing  will  keep  them 
in  a  healthy  state.  Then  they  will  watch 
and  guard  the  throat's  intake,  for  the  ton- 
sils manufacture  material  which  pours  out 
enemies  to  the  germs  of  grippe,  pneumonia 
and  other  air-born  microbes. 

When  palate,  nose  or  tonsils  are  affected 
in  any  way  they  cause  that  disagreeable 
and  injurious  method  of  getting  air  into 
the  lungs — mouth-breathing.  No  matter 
how  careful  you  are  to  avoid  those  things 
and  habits  you  know  to  be  harmful  to 
health,  if  you  breathe  through  your  mouth 
it  is  only  a  matter  of  time  when  you  are 
down  with  some  sort  of  "  bad  cold,"  and  a 
.  [54] 


THINGS    THAT    PREVENT    PROPER    BREATHING 

bad  cold  may  be  the  forerunner  of  a  deadly 
affection. 

The  mouth  was  not  intended  to  take  in 
air.  It  has  enough  to  do  without  taking 
on  extra  and  uncongenial  duties.  One 
could  eat  through  the  nose  with  just 
as  much  reason  as  breathe  through  the 
mouth.  Only  as  a  reserve  entrance  and 
exit  in  extreme  efforts  of  respiration  and 
emergencies  should  the  mouth  be  used  for 
breathing.  The  lining  of  the  nose  and 
air  passages  is  protected  by  a  membrane 
which  warms  and  filters  the  air — the  mouth 
is  not  so  lined.  This  is  the  reason  lips  and 
mouth  become  dry  and  crack  when  you 
breathe  through  them.  In  a  healthy  state 
the  nose  and  other  air  passages  prevent 
living  germs,  such  as  those  of  grippe,  from 
becoming  active;  the  mouth  never.  If  you 
breathe  through  your  mouth  ever  so 
slightly  while  in  a  crowded  hall,  theater, 
trolley,  subway  or  anywhere  people  are 
throwing  off  disease  germs,  you  run  a  risk 
of  getting  into  some  serious  bodily  trouble. 
[55] 


BREATHE   AND   BE   WELL 


If  your  true  breathing  tubes  are  not  abso- 
lutely clean  and  in  a  healthy  state  there  is 
also  serious  danger. 

Children,  taken  among  all  sorts  and 
kinds  of  people  or  among  other  children, 
are  always  in  danger  if  there  is  the  slightest 
nose  obstruction  or  if  they  have  the  habit 
of  breathing  through  the  mouth.- 

Adenoids  are  the  principal  obstruction 
found  in  children's  air  passages.  If  your 
child  sleeps  with  its  mouth  open,  if  it 
snuffles,  if  it  sometimes  becomes  expres- 
sionless, take  it  to  your  doctor  or  to  a 
specialist.  There  is  no  excuse  or  sympathy 
for  the  mother  who  lets  her  child  grow  up 
with  health-destroying  adenoids.  Expense 
is  no  excuse,  because  the  adenoids  will  be 
removed  in  a  few  moments  at  any  hospital. 
The  little  operation  is  free  from  all  danger 
and  will  be  done  without  cost  for  those 
unable  to  pay. 

Faulty  breathing  has  been  the  real  cause 
of  many  deaths  in  children,  although  the 
[56] 


THINGS    THAT    PREVENT    PROPER    BREATHING 

trouble  has  been  given  another  name  or 
names. 

Never  use  a  hairpin  or  any  harsh  instru- 
ment in  trying  to  clean  the  baby's  or  child's 
nose.  A  soft  cloth  dipped  in  warm  water 
is  all  that  is  needed.  Again,  let  me  em- 
phasize, repeat,  for  all  mothers,  everybody, 
never  use  salt  solutions  in  nose  or  throat. 

No  child  or  adult  ever  recovered  from 
the  grippe  or  pneumonia  who  did  not  live 
Vvdth  some  of  their  after-effects — generally 
nervous  troubles.  So  do  not  let  yourself 
or  your  child  ever  be  in  such  a  condition 
that  the  germs  of  these  destructive  diseases 
can  set  up  a  lively  colony  in  its  body  or 
yours.  You  cannot  avoid  these  germs,  but 
you  can  make  your  body  and  your  child's 
immune  to  them. 

No  child  that  is  allowed  to  continue  the 
mouth-breathing  habit  ever  can  develop  its 
latent  powers.  A  youth  or  girl  who 
breathes  through  the  mouth  never  can 
obtain  that  health  which  means  immunity 
to  disease. 

[57] 


BREATHE  AND   BE   WELL 


Breathing  through  the  mouth  means,  for 
the  baby,  a  dried  and  ever  parched  mouth. 
This  irritates  and  prevents  it  from  properly 
nursing  or  taking  the  bottle.  It  alters  the 
shape  of  the  mouth,  twists  it  all  awry,  changes 
the  expression  of  the  face  as  it  grows  and 
forces  teeth  out  of  alignment.  Many  girls 
have  to  go  to  the  dentist  because,  as  babies, 
they  were  allowed  to  lie  on  their  backs  and 
with  open  mouths  try  to  take  in  and  expel 
air  intended  to  go  through  passages  made 
for  this  express  purpose.  Many  boys,  of 
course,  are  in  the  same  need  of  dental  at- 
tention, but  cosmetic  appeals  do  not  affect 
them.  But  put  it  on  a  big  chest  appeal 
basis  and  they  will  readily  endure  the 
imaginary  tortures  of  the  dentist's  chair. 

Your  child  will  not  have  adenoids  if  it 
is  started  right  in  breathing  habits.  If 
necessary  put  a  little  piece  of  surgeon's 
plaster  over  the  tiny  lips,  but  stay  always 
by  the  child.  Mother's  love  and  care  will 
do  all  this  and  more  when  she  knows  the 
necessity  and  reason.  While  holding  the 
[58] 


THINGS    THAT    PREVENT    PROPER    BREATHING 


baby  if  it  WILL  keep  its  mouth  open, 
place  your  gentle  hand  over  the  lips.  Pinch 
the  nostrils  very  gently  for  a  moment  until 
you  feel  a  tiny  pressure,  then  relieve  at 
once.  The  child  will  give  a  little  snort. 
These  methods  will  soon  teach  it  to  use 
the  nose  and  then  it  will  commence  to 
breathe  right. 

The  child  should  rest  so  there  will  be  no 
bend  or  curve  of  the  neck.  That  is,  the 
breathing  pipes  should  have  no  stretching 
or  bending. 

Unless  the  teeth  in  the  young  and  adult 
are  regular — that  is  unless  the  jaws  come 
together  so  that  upper  and  lower  teeth 
meet  in  perfect  alignment,  such  persons 
cannot  be  taught  successfully  the  methods 
of  right  breathing.  The  teeth  must  be 
the  first  thing  to  correct  after  being  assured 
that  the  nose  is  clear  of  all  obstructions. 

No  matter  if  there  is  occasional  throat 
irritation,  sometimes  a  soreness  and  en- 
larged tonsils,  in  the  young  person.  In  the 
adolescent  almost  always  there  will  be 
[59] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


temporary  enlargement — blood  engorge- 
ment— of  the  tonsils.  A  few  weeks  of 
proper  breathing  will  correct  these  condi- 
tions. This  is  one  of  the  remarkable  re- 
sults of  knowing  how  to  breathe  right — 
nature  corrects  these  temporary  faults  just 
as  soon  as  you  give  her  the  opportunity. 

To  form  the  habit  of  correct  breathing 
so  that  from  conscious  effort  it  becomes  a 
natural  and  unconscious  act,  requires  pa- 
tience, practice  and  posture. 

As  I  shall  have  something  to  say  about 
clothes  and  the  way  to  wear  them  it  is  only 
necessary  to  mention  here  the  importance 
of  freedom  for  the  neck  and  its  vital  blood- 
vessels and  nerves. 

Do  not  wear  tight  neckwear  if  you  want 
to  get  the  benefit  of  right  breathing.  Have 
no  pressure  upon  or  around  the  neck  if  you 
want  to  think  to  the  best  of  your  ability.  The 
ability  to  think  depends  upon  the  amount 
and  quality  of  blood  circulating  in  the 
brain.  Any  pressure  on  the  vessels  coming 
and  going  to  the  brain  affects  the  amount 
[60] 


THINGS    THAT    PREVENT    PROPER    BREATHING 

and  strength  of  the  blood  stream.  It  also 
affects  the  quality  of  the  blood  because  it 
cannot  receive  the  benefits  of  breathing  to 
the  full.  And  these  conditions  working  to- 
gether, of  course,  react  upon  the  nervous 
system.  If  your  nervous  system  is  im- 
paired you  never  can  learn  to  breathe  right. 

Do  not  muffle  your  throat.  Give  it  air. 
Let  the  breezes  blow  around  it.  If  you  are 
a  girl  or  woman  and  must  wear  furs  in 
mild  or  warm  weather,  put  them  around 
the  ankle.  Anyway,  they  will  be  more 
noticeable  there.  Put  something  warm 
around  the  ankles  and  upon  the  feet,  but 
don't  bake  the  warm  blood  trying  to  get 
to  the  brain.  When  I  see  bare  or  thinly- 
clad  ankles  trying  to  keep  from  being  dis- 
located while  held  up  by  distorting  high 
heels,  inches  deep  in  snow  or  slush,  I 
wonder  if  the  pressed  and  muffled  arterial 
flow  really  could  injure  the  brain  of  the 
woman.  I  wonder!  And  so  do  all  intelli- 
gent men  and  women. 

You  cannot  do  these  fashionable  stunts 

[61] 


BREATHE   AND   BE   WELL 


and  derive  any  material  benefit  from  the 
following  instructions  of  how  to  get  pure 
air  into  the  lungs  and  tissues. 

Head  up,  shoulders  back  while  walking 
or  sitting,  is  the  first  thing  to  keep  ever 
on  your  mind.  If  you  have  started  your 
spinal  column  right  in  the  morning,  this 
attitude  will  be  adopted  naturally  after  a 
little  practice.  The  air  passages  having 
been  cleaned  for  the  day,  take  deep  ii  I  ala- 
tions  wherever  and  whenever  possible.  Do 
this  for  a  few  moments  before  luncheon  or 
dinner  in  air  that  is  moving.  Do  it  before 
climbing  stairways,  but  not  while  climbing. 

Fill  your  lungs,  hold  your  breath  for  a 
moment,  then  expel  the  air.  You  should 
do  this  until  you  feel  that  the  collar-bone 
has  been  moving,  the  lower  ribs  make  you 
know  they  are  all  there. 

These  exercises  are  for  any  time  you 
have  the  moment's  opportunity  and  the 
fresh  air.  Not  necessarily  out  of  doors, 
anywhere  there  is  absence  of  crowds  and 
air  from  outside  gets  in.  I  knew  a  young 
[62] 


THINGS    THAT    PREVENT    PROPER    BREATHING 

man  employed  by  a  packing  house  who 
used  to  have  a  few  spare  moments  in  the 
cold  storage  room.  He  thought  the  air 
there  was  fresh — it  was.  He  exercised  to 
enlarge  his  chest.  He  kept  up  the  exer- 
cises in  this  cold  storage  room  for  several 
weeks.  Now  he  is  in  cold  storage  for 
good. 

After  a  few  weeks'  practice  the  nerve 
centers  which  control  the  muscular  move- 
ments of  breathing  "  get  the  habit."  When 
this  point  is  reached  you  will  feel  at  in- 
tervals a  half -conscious  impulse  to  fill  your 
lungs.  There  comes  a  feeling  of  air  hun- 
ger and  you  satisfy  it.  As  this  state  is 
approached  you  may  start  the  real  develop- 
ment of  chest  and  a  shapely  and  useful 
abdomen.     We  shall  see  how,  later  on. 

When  walking,  clasp  your  hands  behind 
your  back,  bringing  the  shoulders  taut. 
No  deep  breathing  now;  just  brisk  walk- 
ing, breathing  naturally;  that  is  without 
effort.  In  this  position  of  arms  and  shoul- 
ders any  heaving  motion  of  chest  and 
[63] 


BREATHE   AND    BE    WELL 


abdomen  is  liable  to  overstretch  or  strain 
chest  muscles — a  condition  to  avoid. 

When  you  are  in  a  crowded  place, 
breathe  lightly;  do  not  try  any  lung  ex- 
pansion is  what  I  mean.  Wait  until  you 
get  out  in  the  open.  Always  walk  in  the 
open  air  after  being  in  crowded  places. 
I  realize  that  this  advice  sounds  rather 
ridiculous  to  those  who  attend  theaters  and 
many  social  functions;  but  it  is  the  prin- 
ciple I  want  to  show — the  reason. 

You  must  find  some  way  as  soon  as  con- 
venient to  snort  out,  or,  in  the  case  of  our 
gentle  companions,  to  consciously  exhale 
the  by-products  of  the  dust  and  emanations 
you  have  partly  inhaled.  Do  it  as  soon  as 
you  reach  your  sleeping-room  and  have 
bodily  freedom.  Remember  that  it  is  of 
great  importance,  this  getting  out  of  your 
lungs  the  effects  of  the  air  you  have  been 
taking  in.  I  purposely  harp  upon  this  fact 
because  it  is  the  basis  for  obtaining  self- 
protection  from  the  germs  always  around 
us. 

[64] 


THINGS    THAT    PREVENT    PROPER    BREATHING 

If  you  have  been  traveling  in  railway 
coaches  you  should,  as  soon  as  possible, 
clean  the  nose  and  upper  air  passages  with 
warm  water — nothing  else.  After  this 
necessary  hygienic  procedure  breathe  fresh 
air  according  to  the  instructions  given 
above.  If  it  has  been  a  night  in  the  sleeper 
the  same  rules  apply,  only  they  must  be 
more  rigidly  followed. 

You  never  know  just  what  kind  of 
germs  or  in  what  quantity  you  have  taken 
into  the  air  passages,  and  the  only  safe  way 
is  to  clear  them  out  and  replace  them  by 
their  mortal  enemy:  fresh  air  passing  over 
all  the  mucous  surfaces  and  getting  into 
the  furthermost  lung  cell.  It  really 
amounts  to  house  cleaning.  Each  lung  cell 
is  a  separate  room  where  possibly  lodges 
poisonous  material  for  your  blood  to  ab- 
sorb unless  the  rooms  are  swept  clean  to 
the   smallest   corner. 

You  cannot  get  the  full  benefit  of  golf 
or  other  general  outdoor  sport  unless  you 
have  started  every  rib  hinge,  spine  joint, 
[65] 


BREATHE   AND    BE    WELL 


lung  cell,  by  a  'few  moments  of  deep 
breathing  before  the  game.  This  done, 
every  little  physical  eifort  and  slight  ex- 
ertion in  the  open  is  multiplied  in  its  effect 
by  the  receptive  state  of  organs  and  vessels. 
Especially  valuable  is  this  method  to  those 
of  sluggish  livers  or  lazy  kidneys. 


[66] 


CHAPTER  IV 

SNORING— THE  CAUSES  AND 
CURES 

Snoring  is  due  to  some  interference  with 
the  air  passages.  It  is  frequently  caused 
by  day  breathing  through  the  mouth. 
Breathing  through  the  mouth  causes  evap- 
oration from  the  mucous  membrane.  This 
means  a  dry  mouth  and  during  the  night 
the  wind  whistles  over  this  dry  surface, 
which  acts  as  a  sounding-board. 

Snoring  may  be  due  to  neglected  ade- 
noids from  childhood,  the  effects  of  a 
chronic  catarrh,  which  remains  quiescent 
during  the  active  hours  or  one  which  has 
been  treated  by  chemicals  and  drugs,  too 
much  dinner  or  too  many  drinks  plus  a 
low  tone  of  the  nervous  control  over  breath- 
ing muscles. 

Of  course  the  snorer  does  not  breathe 

[67] 


BREATHE   AND   BE    WELL 


right  while  sleeping  or  during  his  conscious 
hours.  There  are  those  who  whistle  like 
ships  which  pass  in  the  night,  whose  air 
passages  during  the  day  are  unobstructed 
and  unaffected  in  any  way.  But  they  do 
not  breathe  in  the  right  way  during  the 
day,  and  this  faulty  breathing  has  so  irri- 
tated the  mucous  membranes  that  through- 
out the  night  they  pour  out  a  mucilaginous 
material  over  and  through  which  the  ex- 
piring air  has  to  make  its  noisy  way. 

Snoring  is  always  a  sign  that  the  indi- 
vidual is  wasting  energy;  that  the  life-pro- 
longing oxygen  neither  gets  in  nor  out 
without  some  kind  of  obstruction  or  with- 
out being  mixed  with  mucous  and  delete- 
rious moistures. 

Snoring  is  a  sound  picture  of  the  snor- 
er's  life;  his  early  neglect,  bad  air  through- 
out the  day,  over-indulgence  in  eating  and 
drinking,  the  body's  struggle  to  recuperate 
under  difficulties,  are  some  of  the  secrets 
told  by  the  sounds. 

Some  philosopher  has  said:  "Let  me 
[68] 


SNORING THE   CAUSES   AND   CURES 

know  what  a  man  eats  and  I  will  tell  you 
what  he  is."  Let  me  hear  an  adult  snore 
and  I  will  tell  you  what  that  person  has 
been,  is  and  will  be;  for  out  of  the  mouths 
of  snorers  gurgles  the  truth. 

Clown — "  that  such  a  one,  and  such  a  one,  were 
past  cure  of  the  things  you  wot  of,  unless  they 
keep  a  very  good  diet." — Measure  for  Measure. 

The  vigorous  snorer  is  dangerous  be- 
cause he  is  a  veritable  fountain  of  a  germ- 
scatterer.  He  is  a  human  sprayer  of  mi- 
crobes held  in  vaporous  solutions  which 
are  being  blown  into  the  surrounding  at- 
mosphere. Constantly,  rhythmically,  dur- 
ing the  hours  of  night  the  poisonous  jets 
jeopardize  the  health  of  all  near  him. 
When  a  man  sneezes  or  coughs  near  you 
you  can  get  away,  blow  your  nose,  then 
exhale  through  it  and  follow  it  up  by  an 
exhalation  through  the  mouth — but  only 
once  or  twice  through  the  mouth. 

But  think  of  sleeping  in  the  same  car, 
house  or  stateroom  with  one  of  these  human 
[69] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


nightly  poison  sprayers!  Because  we  have 
been  in  the  habit  of  doing  all  these  un- 
hygienic things  is  the  cause  for  the  rapidity 
of  the  spread  of  grippe,  pneumonia  and 
other  dangerous  diseases  which  find  en- 
trance to  the  body  through  the  air  pas- 
sages. In  the  times  past  it  used  to  take 
months  for  an  epidemic  of  influenza  to 
travel.  Now  with  our  facilities  for  rapid 
traveling  the  germs  are  up-to-date  and 
follow  as  do  mail  and  spraying  travelers. 

All  dangers  have  their  warnings.  When 
the  snorer  starts  in  for  his  night's  work 
get  away  from  his  presence  at  once — far 
away.  Go  to  the  smoking-room  if  travel- 
ing on  land  or  water.  If  you  are  of  the 
sort  or  sex  which  do  not  smoke  get  into  the 
fresh  air  somehow.  If  in  hotel  or  house 
demand  a  room  far  from  the  fountain's 
spray;  then  close  the  transom  and  open 
the  window. 

The  deep,  booming  snore  is  a  warning 
to  the  snorer  and  his  friends  that  all  is 
[70] 


SNORING THE   CAUSES   AND   CURES 

not  quite  right  with  him — or  her — if  it  is 
9.  stout  individual. 

This  kind  of  snoring  is  a  possible  fore- 
runner of  apoplexy,  heart  trouble,  harden- 
ing arteries,  kidney  congestion.  Sometimes 
such  a  snoring  as  these  stout  individuals 
render  can  be  scarcely  distinguished  from 
the  stertorous  breathing  in  apoplectic  at- 
tacks. It  so  closely  simulates  the  latter 
that  it  shows  a  congested  state  of  blood- 
vessels. 

And  right  here,  before  it  slips  my  mind, 
I  want  to  say  to  all  mothers,  that  fre- 
quently snoring  in  children  is  due  to  con- 
stipation, this  latter  condition  producing  a 
congested  state  of  the  blood-vessels. 

The  mistake  is  too  often  made  of  be- 
lieving that  because  a  child  is  regular  in 
its  habits  of  bowel  evacuation,  it  is  never 
constipated.  In  spite  of  what  you  think 
is  a  cleared-out  lower  bowel,  there  may 
remain  hidden  and  packed  in  its  many 
folds,  material  which  causes  a  slight  irri- 
tation and  congestion.  If  the  child  WILL 
[71] 


BREATHE   AND   BE   WELL 


breathe  through  the  mouth  while  sleeping 
it  is  always  well  to  look  to  this  bowel 
matter. 

Now,  if  you  have  taught  and  watched 
the  child  to  breathe  right;  if  it  sleeps  in 
a  room  where  fresh  air  constantly  circu- 
lates, the  oxygenated  blood  will  reach  the 
lower  bowel  and  keep  it  free.  Do  not  let 
the  child  hurry  through  the  breathing  ex- 
ercises; that  is,  breathe  rapidly  as  they 
are  wont  to  do  in  order  to  finish  and  get 
away.  Patience  and  watching  that  the 
breathing  is  deep  and  SLOW  is  the  way 
to   start   the   child   right. 

If  your  boy  is  inclined  to  snore  lightly 
you  may  be  certain  that  he  partly  breathes 
through  his  mouth  during  the  daytime, 
especially  after  physical  exercise  and  hearty 
play.  After  a  long  run  or  any  period  of 
violent  exertion,  it  is  natural  for  man  to 
assist  the  lungs  and  heart  by  taking  air 
through  the  mouth  as  an  adjunct  to  the 
nasal  pass.  But  such  a  practice  should  last 
only  for  a  few  minutes.  If  the  boy  cannot 
[72] 


SNORING THE   CAUSES   AND   CURES 

keep  his  mind  upon  this  fact  then  teach 
him  to  keep  his  hand  over  his  mouth  each 
time  until  the  habit  of  tightly  closing  it 
becomes  an  involuntary  habit. 

Let  the  boy  see  how  much  greater  his 
chest  heaves  and  enlarges,  how  the  ribs 
stand  out  when  he  breathes  only  through 
his  nose,  and  he  will  at  once  adopt  a 
proper  breathing  method.  All  boys  arie 
from  Missouri — ^they  want  to  be  shown. 

In  a  girl,  over-play,  undue  excitement 
affecting  the  nervous  organization,  cause 
relaxation  of  the  palate  and  disturbances 
of  the  tonsils.  In  this  condition  when  she 
sleeps,  there  is  temporary  obstruction  of 
the  intake  and  outgo  of  air  and  the  fizzle 
snore  is  the  result. 

In  the  majority  of  cases  the  habit  of 
snoring  is  due  to  sleeping  on  the  back. 
In  this  unnatural  sleeping  position  the 
soft  palate,  tongue,  tonsils,  relaxed  and 
fatigued,  slip  down  and  backward.  The 
lower  jaw  naturally  drops,  leaving  a  par- 
tially or  completely  open  mouth.  Also  the 
[73] 


BREATHE   AND   BE   WELL 


head  is  thrown  somewhat  back,  stretching 
the  neck  and  jaw  muscles,  which  aids  in 
keeping  the  jaws  apart.  All  these  unnat- 
ural conditions  add  to  whatever  other  ob- 
stacles exist:  adenoids,  dry  mouth,  cindered 
and  dusted  nostrils. 

Did  you  ever  see  a  dog  sleep  lying 
straight  upon  its  back,  neck  out,  head 
back?  Did  you  ever  see  a  horse,  cow,  hen, 
frog;  any  animal,  sleep  on  its  back?  If 
you  find  your  canary,  in  the  morning,  lying 
on  its  back,  you  know  he  is  no  more  a 
singing  canary.  Turn  a  turtle  upon  its 
back  and  see  it  try  to  breathe  through  its 
mouth;  about  the  only  way  it  can  breathe 
in  that  position  and  not  very  successfully 
then.  Hypnotize  a  fowl  and  place  it  upon 
its  back  and  watch  it  gasp  for  air. 

No  animal,  except  man,  sleeps  upon  its 
back.  And  no  man  but  the  feather-bed 
man  even  attempts  it.  During  the  period 
the  young  and  the  adolescent  are  acquiring 
this  bad  habit,  nature  warns  them  by  the 
dreams  she  sends;  night  terrors  in  the  very 
[74] 


SNORING THE   CAUSES    AND    CURES 

young,  weakening  dreams  in  the  youth,  and 
when  the  grown  will  not  learn  better,  by 
snoring  nightmares. 

No  animal  ever  sleeps  upon  its  back  ex- 
cept in  its  last  sleep.  Coil  up  or  else  sleep 
upon  your  side.  Get  back  to  nature;  don't 
put  nature  upon  her  back. 

Assuming  you  have  attended  to  the 
health  and  purity  of  all  the  air  passages, 
the  next  thing  to  do  is  to  stop  the  habit  of 
sleeping  on  the  back  if  you  wish  to  cure 
yourself  of  snoring.  There  are  various 
methods  you  may  use.  One  of  the  best  is 
to  sleep  upon  a  hard  mattress.  It  is  nat- 
ural for  one  to  take  a  position  on  one's 
back  when  the  body  sinks  into  a  soft  and 
deep  nest,  whose  sides  rise,  preventing  easy 
turning  or  rolling  during  the  night.  The 
instinct  to  roll  over  several  times  during 
the  night  is  nature's  way  of  having  you  do 
some  breathing  through  the  skin. 

Next  to  accustoming  yourself  to  sleep 
upon  a  hard  mattress,  the  best  way  to  stop 
sleeping  on  the  back  is  to  tie  a  knotted 
[75] 


BREATHE   AND   BE   WELL 


towel  around  your  waist.  Tie  the  towel 
so  that  the  knot  comes  directly  in  the  small 
of  the  back.  Then  start  in  sleeping  upon 
the  right  side.  If  you  get  to  sleep  and 
turn  over  on  to  your  back  the  knot  will 
call  your  attention  to  the  fact.  I  knew  a 
man  who  tried  this  method  of  breaking  his 
back  habit,  but  it  was  too  fixed  in  his 
nature.  The  knot  did  not  trouble  him  so 
he  used  a  chestnut  burr  in  its  place.  It 
did  the  trick.  However,  I  do  not  recom- 
mend this  method  as  a  rule.  In  some  of 
the  old  moss-back  snorers  it  might  be 
efficacious  as  well  as  forceps  upon  the  lips. 

In  most  cases  breaking  this  back-sleep- 
ing habit  will  also  correct  the  mouth- 
breathing  habit.  But  in  rebellious  cases 
other  means  should  be  taken.  Fasten  over 
the  mouth  one  or  two  slips  of  surgeon's 
plaster  and  stick  to  it;  or  better  still  let 
the  plaster  stick  to  it. 

The  personal  equation  in  mouth-breath- 
ing is  of  great  importance.  No  matter  how 
[76] 


SNORING THE   CAUSES   AND   CURES 

well  developed  your  chest  capacity,  how 
well  you  have  opened  the  lower  lung  cells 
by  breathing  exercises  during  the  day,  you 
never  can  procure  and  secure  complete 
health  if  you  breathe  through  your  mouth 
during  the  night. 

Make  it  your  paramount  thought  and 
action  to  keep  your  mouth  tightly  closed 
breathing  involuntarily  or  voluntarily. 
There  is  a  lot  of  will  power  and  memory 
to  be  used  here,  but  you  can  by  constant 
practice  so  drill  the  muscles  and  nerve  im- 
pulses that  jaw  and  lips  will  tighten  in- 
stead of  loosening  under  all  kinds  of 
breathing  efforts. 

But,  of  course,  the  real  secret  is  in  start- 
ing the  child  right  in  all  these  matters.  It 
is  not  at  all  a  difficult  matter  unless  you 
consider  watchfulness,  patience  and  knowl- 
edge of  your  child  a  difficult  matter. 

Many  children,  especially  boys,  acquire 
the  mouth-breathing  habit  through  swim- 
ming. Let  boys  and  girls  get  all  that  is 
possible  out  of  this  most  beneficial  sport 

[77] 


BREATHE  AND   BE   WELL 


and  exercise,  but  teach  and  admonish  them 
that  their  chest  development  only  can  be 
of  value  when  the  air  for  the  lungs  passes 
in  through  the  nostrils. 

The  adults  of  both  sexes  can  stop  the 
mouth-breathing  habit  by  remembering 
these  statements  while  bathing  or  swim- 
ming. It  is  somewhat  amusing  to  notice 
how  many  people  unconsciously  breathe 
through  the  mouth.  Many,  most  of  these 
would  resent  any  such  charge,  but  watch 
a  friend  after  a  short  run  for  the  car,  a 
hurried  rush  up  the  steps,  after  an  excited 
argument  or  while  watching  some  interest- 
ing scene  at  the  theater.  Eight  out  of  ten 
will  be  found  taking  in  some  air  through 
the  mouth  passages. 

No  wonder  colds,  catarrh,  grippe,  pneu- 
monia, headaches  and  other  microbic  dis- 
eases are  always  menacing  us.  Yet  to  one 
who  rigorously  obeys  the  way  we  were  in- 
tended to  breathe  and  eat,  these  infections 
have  no  terror. 

Lately  there  has  been  an  odd  sort  of 
[78] 


SNORING THE    CAUSES   AND    CURES 

mouth-breathing  to  be  seen  every  day  upon 
the  dusty  and  dirty  roads;  one  which  will 
have  injurious  effects  upon  its  victims  un- 
less it  is  stopped. 

I  refer  to  the  mouth-breathing  of  the 
ardent  motorist;  the  man  or  woman  de- 
veloping incipient  "speed  mania."  I  have 
seen  the  steering-wheel  grasped  by  young 
people  who  sat  rigid,  tense,  open-eyed  and 
open-mouthed  as  they  motored  to  the  speed 
danger  point. 

Such  an  attitude  of  strain  is  natural 
under  these  conditions — a  psychologic  state 
produced  by  kinetic  forces.  It  belongs  to 
the  mechanistic  make-up  of  man.  It  is 
the  same  psychic  state  caused  by  a  new, 
startling  sight  or  sound.  "  She  stood 
staring,  opened-mouthed,"  says  the  near 
novelist. 

So  see  to  it  that  your  mouth  does  not 
take  in  sight,  sound  or  air.  You  have  eyes 
for  the  sight,  ears  for  the  sound,  nose  for 
the  air,  but  the  mouth  is  for  the  entrance 
of  food,  the  lips  in  a  pretty  girl —  Well, 
[79] 


BREATHE  AND   BE   WELL 


sometimes  for  closing  negative  decisions, 
sometimes   for   loving   welcome. 

But  she  who  motors  with  open  mouth 
never  will  have  moist  and  sweet  lips  to  be 
kissed. 

Even  if  the  teeth  are  in  splendid  con- 
dition— a  rare  state  to  find  among  men  and 
boys — ^the  intake  of  air  passing  over  them 
is  liable  to  carry  deleterious  substances  to 
the  throat  and  lungs.  A  form  of  catarrh 
is  due  to  this  fact.  Not  all  disagreeable 
breaths  come  from  unclean  teeth  and  dis- 
eased gums.  Many  come  from  a  throat 
lining  encysted  by  decaying  matter  brought 
there  by  mouth-breathing. 

Overfat  faces,  pendent  jaw  flesh,  heavy, 
dragging  -  down  chins,  make  mouth- 
breathers. 

But  the  remedy  for  these  cases  implies 
methods  which  will  reduce  the  whole  body 
flesh  and  will  be  considered  under  another 
chapter. 


[80] 


CHAPTER  V 

BREATHING  FOR  BEAUTY- 
BREATHING  AND  EATING 

Red  cheeks,  plump  and  rounding  curves, 
symmetry,  vitality  and  nervous  poise  are 
states  and  conditions  made  and  held  from 
what  goes  on  INSIDE  the  body.  Nothing 
is  true,  lasting  or  beneficial  to  the  body  or 
its  beauty,  to  strength  or  health,  that  is  ex- 
ternally applied,  except  water. 

This  means  electric  massage,  the  pound- 
ing of  vibrators,  flesh  foods,  "  bust  enlarg- 
ers,"  hair  restorers,  complexion  wafers  or 
v/ashes,  fat  eliminators  and  "  nerve  foods." 
Electric  massage  and  vibrations  have  their 
places  in  certain  forms  of  undevelopment 
in  the  over-fat  and  those  persons  whose 
initiative  and  will-power  have  to  have  some 
form  of  external  assistance. 

All   the    other    artificial   methods    men- 

[81] 


BREATHE   AND   BE   WELL 


tioned  and  those  not  mentioned  are  beauty 
destroyers,  deceivers — things  to  be  abso- 
lutely avoided.  The  reason  is  simple  to 
understand.  There  can  take  place  no  de- 
velopment of  any  organ  without  that  organ 
getting  a  good  supply  of  blood  which  is 
rich  in  oxygen.  You  can  enlarge  a  muscle 
by  massage  or  vibrations.  True,  this  sort 
of  manipulation  or  mechanical  exercise 
sends  blood  to  the  organ  or  muscle,  but 
that  blood  is  not  rich  in  oxygen  because 
there  goes  no  deep  or  extra  breathing  with 
the  operations. 

You  may  eat  according  to  some  fad 
rules,  fast  under  ancient  or  modern  regula- 
tions, diet  or  stuff,  eat  nuts  or  chew  red 
beef,  drink  hot  water  in  the  morning,  take 
internal  baths  at  night,  and  if  you  are  not 
injured  by  one  or  more  of  these  foolish 
fads,  certainly  never  will  derive  any  bene- 
fit. Internal  baths  are  as  necessary  as  ex- 
ternal, only  they  should  be  the  real  inter- 
nal; that  is  the  abdominal  muscles  should 
squeeze  and  flush  out  the  internal  organs, 
[82] 


BREATHING   FOR   BEAUTY 


using  the  fluids  and  soap  of  the  intestines 
for  this  purpose.  And  as  we  shall  see, 
in  doing  this  you  are  forced  to  take  in  a 
lot  of  oxygen. 

There  are  no  such  real  things  as  "  Flesh 
foods,"  "  Complexion  foods  "  and  the  many 
other  claims  of  advertisers  to  sell  you 
beauty  and  health.  Beauty  and  health  are 
not  purchasable  articles.  They  are  pro- 
curable conditions  the  ingredients  of  which 
are  manufactured  in  your  own  body,  and 
there  are  no  patents  registered  for  their 
production.  They  might  be  called  pro- 
prietary products  in  so  far  as  they  belong 
to  your  body  exclusively. 

Don't  be  fooled  by  believing  that  you 
can  get  beauty  and  health  by  anything  you 
can  put  on  or  in  the  body — anything  which 
comes  in  a  bottle  or  box. 

The  reason  is  that  only  the  blood  and  its 

many  assistants,  lymph,  pancreas,  spleen, 

etc.,  can  prepare  food  so  that  its  various 

separated   ingredients   go   to   the   spot   or 

[83] 


BREATHE  AND   BE   WELL 


spots  where  they  are  needed.  The  blood 
cannot  do  this  delicate  chemical  work  un- 
less it  first  gets  its  oxygen  from  the  intake 
tubes  and  can  pick  up  and  throw  off  all 
the  waste  stuff. 

And  this  means  always,  always,  proper 
breathing.  Furthermore,  you  cannot  attain 
this  state  unless  the  diaphragm  is  fully  de- 
veloped and  under  voluntary  control. 

The  young  woman  needs  to  follow,  and 
to  follow  carefully,  the  instructions  now  to 
be  given,  if  she  wishes  to  become  more 
beautiful,  to  turn  a  commonplace  appear- 
ance into  an  attractive  one  and  maintain 
beauty  and  attractiveness  for  many  years 
— for  all  her  years  up  to  seventy.  Oh,  yes, 
it  can  be  and  is  done  by  those  who  know 
how. 

Having  started  to  develop  the  chest  and 
strengthen  the  spine  according  to  instruc- 
tions given  in  a  previous  chapter,  you  must 
now  start  to  strengthen  the  diaphragm. 
With  many  women  this  is  a  somewhat  diffi- 
cult matter  to  bring  about  because  it  neces- 
[84] 


BREATHING   FOU  BEAUTY 


sitates  rigid  adherence  to  freedom  from  all 
pressure  upon  the  body  at  certain  intervals. 

No  waistbands;  nothing  on  the  body  ex- 
cept what  rests  upon  the  shoulders.  If 
you  wear  pajamas  have  the  waist  strings 
as  loose  as  possible.  Better  forego  the 
trousers,  anyway. 

Standing,  heels  together,  raise  your  arms 
straight  above  your  head.  Now  bend  from 
the  hips,  knees  rigid,  bringing  the  arms 
still  extended  toward  the  floor  until  the 
fingers  touch  the  carpet. 

If  you  have  not  tried  this  or  similar  ex- 
ercises it  will  be  difficult  at  first.  The 
knees  will  try  to  bend,  they  will  stretch 
so  you  hear  them  in  the  stretching.  But 
if  you  are  too  knock-kneed — all  women 
are  knock-kneed  to  a  certain  extent — this 
exercise  will  help  straighten  the  legs.  You 
must  persist  in  this  exercise  for  ten  min- 
utes. Try  to  reach  the  floor  with  your 
fingers  ten  times  each  morning  for  the  first 
week  or  so.  Then  increase  the  number  of 
[85] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


times  until  you  can  bend  easily  twenty-five 
times  each  morning. 

During  all  these  efforts  the  mouth  must 
be  kept  closed.  Don't  let  it  get  the  best 
of  you.  When  you  find  you  cannot  go  on 
without  taking  a  mouthful  of  air,  stop  and 
take  in  and  blow  out  through  the  nostrils. 
Then  start  again.  After  a  week  or  so  you 
will  find  it  a  joyful  thing  to  be  able  to 
breathe  right;  to  find  your  toes  tingling 
and  cheeks  red  with  pure  blood. 

Having,  by  this  method,  developed  some 
strength  in  the  stomach  muscles  you  must 
commence  to  get  voluntary  control  over 
them.  In  bed  upon  your  back  with  noth- 
ing over  you  but  a  thin  sheet,  fix  your 
eyes  and  attention  upon  your  abdomen — 
stomach.  Now  start  a  movement  of  its 
muscles — any  kind  of  movement  possible  at 
first.  See  if  you  can  bring  the  contents  of 
the  abdomen  upwards,  then  force  them 
downwards.  If  so,  wiggle  your  insides; 
then  toss  them  in  one  direction,  then  in 
another,  then  from  side  to  side.  When 
[86] 


BREATHING   FOR   BEAUTY 


you  discover  you  can  control  them  in  one 
direction,  practice  that  set  of  muscles. 
Then  try  to  get  the  muscles  to  twist  and 
turn  another  way.  The  point  to  reach  is 
that  of  controlling  them  in  the  same  way 
you  do  those  of  the  arm  or  leg.  WILL 
the  stomach  muscles  to  do  your  bidding. 
Of  course  it  can  be  done  and  must  be  done 
if  you  want  a  useful  diaphragm — if  you 
want  to  breathe  for  beauty  and  health. 

If  you  have  not  seen  you  have  heard 
of  the  Oriental  stomach  dancers;  the  real 
ones,  not  those  disgusting  contortionists 
seen  on  the  Midways.  One  of  the  tricks 
which  is  the  cause  of  the  wonderful  beauty 
of  the  Eastern  girls,  is  the  development  of 
their  big  breathing  muscle — the  diaphragm. 
Through  its  action  in  drawing  in  large 
quantities  of  fresh  air  and  throwing  out 
waste  material,  these  girls  have  a  delicious 
and  fascinating  complexion  and  skin,  eyes 
of  desire  and  the  grace  and  suppleness  of 
a  fawn.  They  eat  enormous  quantities  of 
sweets,  yet  do  not  become  corpulent  as  long 

[87] 


BREATHE   AND   BE   WELL 


as  they  keep  up  their  dancing  exercises. 
True,  they  become  awkward  and  fatty  as 
they  grow  old,  but  never  would  they  reach 
this  state  if  they  were  allowed  to  get  out 
in  the  open  and  consume  that  large  amount 
of  fresh  air  their  breathing  muscles  would 
draw  in. 

Keep  up  this  stomach  exercise  through- 
out your  life.  Naturally,  as  in  any  other 
form  of  muscular  development,  when  it 
has  reached  commanding  power  only  slight 
exercises  are  necessary.  Obviously,  for 
women  this  form  of  muscular  development 
of  the  abdomen  is  of  greater  importance 
than  for  the  ordinary  man.  After  mater- 
nity the  muscles  keep  the  woman  in  good 
shape,  during  the  child-bearing  intervals 
they  not  only  act  as  a  protective  armor 
but  increase  the  amount  of  that  oxygenized 
blood  so  necessary  for  the  well-being  of 
child  and  mother. 

You  simply  HAVE  to  breathe  right  if 
your  diaphragm  is  big  and  strong.     You 
can't  get  away  from  it. 
[  88  ] 


BREATHING   FOR   BEAUTY 


Breathe  only  through  the  nose  when  de- 
veloping the  stomach  muscles  and  during 
any  and  all  kind  of  exercise.  I  shall  not 
repeat  this  absolutely  necessary  admonition 
and  commandment.  Nothing  but  a  dying 
hen,  and  a  human  being  whose  air  passages 
are  stopped  up,  ever  breathes  through  the 
mouth,  and  the  latter  is  always  dying  by 
inches;  literally  by  inches. 

Having  obtained  some  control  over  the 
muscles  of  the  abdomen  or  stomach  while 
you  are  on  your  back  in  bed,  you  should 
commence  the  same  movements  while 
standing  upright.  In  this  position  you 
can  accomplish  much  more  than  is  possible 
while  lying  on  the  back. 

Upright,  with  hands  passively  hanging 
by  the  side  of  the  body,  draw  up  the  con- 
tents of  the  abdomen  until  the  latter  looks 
like  a  deep  valley;  as  though  everything 
inside  of  you  was  up  in  the  chest  cavity. 
Then  push  them  down  until  you  are  laugh- 
ingly and  innocently  ashamed  of  your  pro- 
truding belly.  Draw  up,  push  down,  wig- 
[89] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


gle,  wobble,  twist,  turn  all  your  insides 
over  and  around.  At  least  that  is  the  feel- 
ing you  should  have. 

When  you  have  this  will  power  over  the 
abdominal  muscles  and  contents,  constipa- 
tion, that  curse  to  American  girls  and 
women,  will  never  be  your  lot.  Muddy 
complexions,  headaches,  rushes  and  flushes, 
nervousness  due  to  indigestion  and  neuras- 
thenia caused  by  body  poisons  and  other 
troubles  so  distressing  to  many  women,  will 
be  only  hearsay  to  you.  And  mind  you; 
this  means  for  life;  and  life  is  one  long 
pean  of  joy  under  such  conditions. 

You  see  all  this  abdominal  control  is 
really  internal  massage;  the  way  a  horse 
or  dog,  any  animal,  keeps  in  perfect  health. 
Animals  get  this  internal  exercise  by  roll- 
ing. When  we  went  upon  all-fours  that 
is  the  way  we  kept  clean  inside.  But  since 
we  have  learned  to  walk  upright  the  ab- 
dominal contents  are  not  in  the  position  to 
get  much  benefit  by  rolling.  The  recent 
promoters  of  this  form  of  exercise  for 
[90] 


BREATHING   FOR   BEAUTY 


women  had  the  right  idea.  The  only  fault 
with  it  was  that  it  was  about  a  million 
years  behind  our  present  body  demands. 

Developing  the  diaphragm  means  no 
more  taking  of  cathartics  or  laxatives;  that 
nothing  deleterious  can  remain  in  the  in- 
testines or  other  internal  organs.  It  all 
means  a  proper  and  very  active  blood  cir- 
culation through  right  breathing,  which 
means  HEALTH. 

The  blood-making  spleen  sends  out  that 
rich  material  which  causes  your  cheeks  to 
be  red  and  ruddy;  the  other  blood-making 
cells  in  the  marrow  of  the  bones  voraciously 
grab  the  oxygen  the  diaphragm  draws  in. 
This  is  the  whole  secret  for  all  these  ex- 
ercises and  muscular  development.  They 
make  you,  not  merely  cause  you,  to  breathe 
right  and  all  the  internal  organs  get  the 
benefit  of  this  right  way  of  breathing. 

They  do  not  get  this  benefit  by  the  ordi- 
nary, everyday  way  of  breathing,  and  this 
is  why  so  many  men  and  women,  when  they 
reach  middle  age,  have  stiffened  intestines, 
[91] 


BREATHE   AND   BE   WELL 


hardening  of  the  Hver,  inelastic  arteries  and 
veins,  cold  feet  and  hands,  indigestion  and 
nervous  dispositions — in  fact  why  so  many 
individuals  commence  to  deteriorate  at  a 
period  in  life  when  they  should  and  can 
be  in  the  best  of  physical  and  mental  shape. 

If  your  wife  has  cold  feet,  don't  try  for  a 
divorce,  but  have  her  commence  the  exercises 
advised,  and  shut  her  out  of  the  house  until 
she  has  walked  five  miles  a  day  with  mouth 
shut  and  nostrils  open.  Proper  breathing 
habits  will  put  happiness  into  any  home. 
Many  a  man  walks  home  with  open  mouth 
trying  to  breathe  down  a  tell-tale  odor. 
It's  not  the  way.  Let  the  air  pass  through 
the  nostrils  and  be  warmed  by  the  inner 
air  passages  and  upon  its  return  it  will  dis- 
guise the  enemy  as  far  as  such  an  enemy 
can  be  disguised.  Anyway,  the  oxygen 
taken  in  the  proper  way  will  oxidize  the 
alcohol,  and  that  helps  some. 

Mere  breathing,  deep  breathing  just  to 
develop  a  big  chest  capacity,  is  valueless 
unless  the  inhaled  air  can  reach  every- 
[92] 


BREATHING   FOR   BEAUTY 


where — every  tiny  cell  in  the  body.  The 
man  with  a  big  chest  is  not  any  better  off 
than  a  man  with  an  average  size  lung  box 
if  the  latter  uses  his  breathing  organs  so  as 
to  get  the  oxygen  throughout  his  body.  A 
man  may,  by  certain  forms  of  exercise, 
have  an  exhibition  chest,  but  no  life-pro- 
longing breathing  organs.  That  is,  his 
diaphragm  may  remain  undeveloped,  or  he 
may,  in  ordinary  work,  breathe  partly 
through  his  mouth. 

Obviously,  the  greater  chest  capacity  the 
greater  endurance  and  immunity  from  dis- 
ease if  the  possessor  of  this  lung  power 
knows  how  to  use  it.  He  generally  does 
know  how  to  use  it  if  it  is  a  self -developed 
chest.  But  there  are  individuals  born  with 
fine  lung  power  who  never  get  its  full 
power.  It  is  the  old  story;  that  for  which 
a  man  strives  and  labors  is  valued  and  used 
to  its  best  advantage;  that  which  comes 
without  individual  effort  is  neglected  and 
its  value  unrecognized. 

There  is  no  Royal  road  to  health  any 
[93] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


more  than  there  is  a  Royal  road  to  any 
kind  of  lasting  achievement.  Understand- 
ing, persistence,  work,  practice  in  breath- 
ing is  as  necessary  as  in  any  other  accom- 
plishment. 

Before  you  dress  to  go  to  a  dance  or  a 
dinner,  no  matter  if  you  have  been  through 
this  diaphragm  exercise  in  the  morning,  go 
at  it  again.  Clear  out  the  ashes  and  cin- 
ders in  the  body  which  have  accumulated 
throughout  the  day.  Make  as  much  room 
for  air  and  food  as  possible,  for  you  will 
be  somewhat  restricted  in  breathing  by  the 
fashionable  costume  dictated  by  convention. 
And  with  us  convention  in  this  matter  is 
limited  to  no  class. 

Upon  your  return  from  the  evening's 
pleasures  remove  all  tight  and  confining 
clothing,  stretch  every  inch  of  your  body 
and  EXHALE  with  vigor  and  inhale  with 
ease.  Do  not  do  any  more.  Get  into  bed 
and  let  the  food  be  ground  up,  separated, 
and  its  valuable  building  stuffs  go  to  their 
places. 

[94] 


BREATHING   FOR   BEAUTY 


But  in  the  morning!  Big  exercises  for 
the  stomach  if  you  have  dined  well  the 
night  before  or  danced  long  and  merrily. 
If  your  head  aches,  your  mouth  feels  stuffy, 
stand  before  the  open  window  and  take 
the  chest-breathing  exercises.  But  better 
still,  after  this  practice,  get  out  into  the 
open  air  and  breathe,  breathe  deeply  and 
keep  it  up. 

There  is  not  a  man  or  woman  who  can- 
not find  some  period  in  the  day  during 
which  they  can  get  fresh  air  into  their  sys- 
tems. Take  for  instance  the  woman  or 
man  who  has  to  toil  daily  between  walls 
and  under  roofs.  Consider  your  own  work 
and  how  you  avoid  fresh  air  in  getting  to 
it.  You  may  live  some  distance  from  your 
place  of  work  which  compels  you  to  take 
trolleys  or  subways,  tunnels  or  elevated. 
In  rushing  from  workroom  or  office  direct 
to  the  cars  you  believe  you  are  saving  time. 
For  the  day;  yes,  for  the  month,  probably; 
for  the  length  of  your  life  and  for  the 
continuance  of  your  health — NO.  You 
[95] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


are  shortening  your  time  upon  this  earth; 
shortening  its  usefulness  if  not  its  absolute 
activity.  And  it  is  such  a  simple  matter 
to  avoid  this  threatening  state  of  affairs — 
and  it  doesn't  cost  a  cent. 

Coming  from  your  work,  walk  in  the 
fresh  air,  breathing  deeply.  Walk  for  five 
or  ten  blocks,  then  take  your  car.  Get 
oif  five  or  ten  blocks  from  your  destination 
and  walk  there,  breathing  deeply. 

You  see  the  trick?  By  breathing  for  ten 
or  fifteen  minutes  before  you  get  into  the 
cars  you  have  cleared  the  nasal  passages 
and  got  rid  of  all  the  by-products  of  the 
day's  intake.  If  there  are  disease  germs — 
and  there  are  bound  to  be — coughed  or 
floating  around  in  the  crowded  car,  they 
can  find  no  hearty  welcome  or  lodging 
places  in  your  system.  But  a  lot  may 
hang  around  the  entrances  of  the  breathing 
apparatus  and  bring  you  down  with  a 
"  bad  cold "  if  you  go  direct  from  this 
car  atmosphere  to  your  home.  Getting 
[96] 


BREATHING   FOR  BEAUTY 


out  and  walking,  exhaling  forcibly  for  a 
few  times,  then  breathing  deeply,  making 
that  diaphragm  pinch  corset  or  waistband, 
belt  in  man,  discom-ages  these  waiting 
germs,  and  you  may  safely  go  your  way 
along  a  healthy  life.  And  you  will  not 
carry  any  infection  home  to  the  babies  or 
children — this  is  worth  considering. 

In  the  mornings  on  the  way  to  your 
work,  carry  out  the  same  method  of  keep- 
ing free  from  disease  and  from  contract- 
ing colds.  The  kinds  of  colds  you  get 
from  neglect  of  breathing  away  microbes, 
kill  thousands  of  people  every  day — 
healthy,  strong  people,  too;  just  those  who 
neglect  or  do  not  understand  the  value  of 
breathing  so  as  to  be  immune. 

And  what  splendid  opportunities  for  ob- 
taining and  retaining  health  that  person 
has  who  has  to  journey  daily  across  rivers 
and  bays.  Why,  ten  minutes  on  a  ferry 
boat,  out  in  the  open,  breathing  to  the  full, 
will  make  you  FEEL  life.  Little  worries 
*'  the  blues,"  indecision,  fog  on  the  brain, 

[97] 


BREATHE  AND   BE   WELL 


all,  all  will  be  driven  away  by  a  copious 
dose  of  oxygen.  Just  as  a  fresh  wind  will 
clear  away  fog,  by  bringing  refreshing  at- 
mosphere, clear  skies  and  bright  sun,  so 
will  draughts  of  oxygen  affect  the  mind 
and  body.  And  the  causes  for  all  this  are 
tangible:  chemical,  physical  and  physio- 
logical, acting  together  under  a  law  of 
nature. 

The  person  who  habitually  goes  by  the 
way  of  underground  cars,  when  he  or  she 
can  go  in  the  fresh  air  and  sunlight,  rain 
and  snow,  scarcely  deserves  sympathy,  and, 
in  all  conscience,  he  will  need  sympathy  and 
care  in  later  life. 

Takes  time?  Of  course  it  takes  time. 
Every  worth-while  growing  thing  in  this 
world  takes  time.  Those  things  which 
hurry  in  growth  die  in  a  hurry.  The  pop- 
lar hurries  up  and  is  a  soft,  useless  tree. 
The  oak  takes  a  very  long  time  to  breathe 
and  grow,  but  it  cannot  be  blown  down, 
rooted  up,  and  its  wood  is  of  great  value 
to  man. 

[98] 


BREATHING   FOR   BEAUTY 


To  get  up  a  half -hour  earlier  in  order 
to  walk  and  breathe  deeply  robs  you  of 
necessary  sleep?  Not  a  bit  of  it.  The 
benefit  to  your  whole  body  and  mind  of  this 
half-hour  of  walking  and  air  feeding  is 
worth  more  to  you  than  two  hours'  sleep. 
Again,  the  air  food  makes  you  sleep  better, 
and  seven  hours'  of  sound  sleep  is  far  bet- 
ter than  ten  hours  of  restless  snoozing. 

The  same  with  a  dinner  half  an  hour 
later  than  you  have  been  accustomed  to. 
The  walk,  air-burning  up  of  dead  material 
in  your  system,  is  worth  more  than  your 
dinner.  For,  if  you  have  not  breathed  in 
pure  air  before  eating  you  will  only  have 
an  increase  in  the  clogging  of  your  pipes. 
Get  your  dinner,  of  course,  but  make  eating 
and  sleeping  wait  upon  reason  and  rule  for 
lasting  health. 


[99] 


CHAPTER  VI 

BREATHING  THROUGH  THE 

SKIN  NECESSARY  FOR 

HEALTH 

Many  people  go  through  life  in  a  state 
of  partial  poisoning  because  their  skins 
cannot  breathe  readily  and  constantly. 

These  people  are  the  neurasthenics,  the 
ever-complaining,  the  easily  exhausted,  the 
ambitious  who  have  not  the  lasting  powers 
to  carry  out  the  steadfast  labors  necessary 
to  accomplish  their  ends,  the  persons  who 
have  a  "  three-o'clock  fatigue  "  and  a  four- 
o'clock  cocktail. 

These  are  conditions  showing  wrong  or 
faulty  breathing  habits  of  the  skin,  even  if 
chest  and  lung  exercises  are  kept  up  daily. 
The  pores  and  little  sweat  glands  are  not 
in  that  natural,  healthy  state  which  permits 
a  constant  breathing  out  of  toxic  material, 
[  100  ] 


BREATHING   THROUGH    THE   SKIN 

nor  can  the  skin  get  the  tonic  effect  due  to 
air  constantly  circulating  around  it. 

Every  little  pore  has  its  set  of  tiny 
nerve  endings.  These  are  stimulated  by 
the  circulating  air,  and  thus  cause  the 
sweat  glands  to  operate.  When  these  skin 
pores  are  closed  to  the  air,  good  skin- 
breathing  is  impossible. 

Those  persons  who  are  wanting  in 
energy  through  faulty  skin-breathing  fully 
believe  they  are  careful  in  the  matter  of 
cleanliness  and  bathing.  So  they  are,  often 
altogether  too  careful  in  the  wrong  way. 

The  trouble  is  they  do  too  much  soaping 
and  scrubbing  of  the  skin.  With  women 
this  soaping  is  caused  by  the  fear  of  per- 
spiration odors.  The  odor  of  a  healthy 
skin  is  a  very  pleasing  odor,  as  any  mother 
knows  when  snuggling  her  baby.  It  means 
the  skin  is  pliable,  soft  and  exuding  the 
natural  skin  pomade.  The  over-washed, 
dried  skin  has  a  displeasing  odor. 

Fresh  water  taken  into  the  body  and 
fresh  water  poured  over  the  body,  keeps 
[101] 


BREATHE   AND   BE   WELL 


the  skin  sweet  and  active — always  fit  to 
breathe. 

A  pint  or  two  of  fluid  containing  poisons 
and  harmless  dead  stuff  are  exuded  and 
exhaled  from  the  skin  every  twenty-four 
hours.  The  process  goes  on  slowly  and 
continuously  and,  except  during  copious 
perspiring,  is  a  function  unconsciously  ex- 
pressed. 

We  do  not  fully  realize  the  great  extent  of 
this  breathing  of  the  skin  except  in  cases  of 
illness  where  the  skin  becomes  dried  or  over- 
heated. The  hot  breath,  headache,  pains 
all  over  the  body,  tell  us  that  something 
is  wrong  with  the  body  or  its  functions. 
The  skin  has  stopped  breathing;  that  is  all, 
but  it  means  irreparable  injury  to  kidneys 
or  liver  if  it  continues.  We  all  know,  how- 
ever, that  many  dangerous  crises  are  passed 
when  the  skin  commences  to  pour  out  mois- 
ture— to  get  back  to  its  normal  breathing 
condition.  This  is  the  time  when  the  doctor 
leaves  the  patient  with  hope,  and  not  before. 

To  know  how  to  breathe  through  the 
[  102  ] 


BREATHING   THROUGH   THE   SKIN 

skin  means  simply  this:  Keeping  the  skin 
in  such  a  healthy  condition  that  it  can 
throw  off  fluid  upon  the  least  physical  ex- 
ertion. Not  merely  from  the  trunk  of  the 
body,  but  from  the  arms,  feet,  nose,  neck. 
If  it  can  always  do  this  one  may  be  certain 
that  the  unconscious  breathing  of  the 
body's  whole  outer  surface  is  constant. 

Every  time  you  practice  deep  breathing 
or  take  in  the  rejuvenating  air,  walking  in 
the  wide  open  or  standing  at  the  opened 
window,  you  force  pressure  against  the 
skin  from  the  inside  as  well  as  from  the 
outside. 

This  pressure  expands  the  big  and  little 
folds  of  the  skin;  stretches  it  just  enough 
to  act  upon  the  pores.  By  this  mechanical 
movement  you  add  just  so  much  more 
force  and  energy  to  the  whole  human  ma- 
chine. 

There    are    a    few   habits    and    customs 

which  are  too  common  and  which  prevent 

proper  breathing  through  the  skin.     One 

of  them,  which  I  have  casually  mentioned, 

[  103  ] 


BREATHE  AND   BE   WELL 


is  the  use  of  too  much  soap  and  daily  soap- 
ing with  hot  water.  Soap  only  should  be 
used  to  wash  off  external  dirt  and  grime. 

After  vigorous  exercise  the  sweat  of  the 
body  should  be  washed  off  either  by  cold 
or  tepid  water.  The  same  means  should 
be  used  in  washing  off  the  salt  grains  after 
a  sea  bath. 

To  use  soap  of  any  kind  in  the  daily 
bath  is  injurious.  It  washes  off  the 
natural  skin  ointment,  irritates  the  pores 
and  interferes  with  their  activities.  Many 
cases  of  that  distressing  and  embarrassing 
affection  called  hives  are  due  to  too  fre- 
quent soaping  in  washing  off  the  perspira- 
tion of  a  summer's  day. 

Hives  are  protests  against  stopping  good 
skin-breathing.  When  you  are  troubled  by 
this  harmless  but  exceedingly  annoying  af- 
fection, just  give  the  skin  a  wash  with  cool 
water  in  which  a  little  bicarbonate  of  soda 
has  been  stirred — or  common  washing  soda 
— and  the  pores  will  start  again  to  make 
the  skin's  natural  ointment. 
[104] 


BREATHING   THROUGH    THE   SKIN 

Another  thing  you  should  do  to  keep  the 
skin  in  proper  breathing  condition  is  to 
dry  rub  it  night  and  morning.  Not  harsh 
rubbing;  just  gentle  stroking  of  the  body's 
surface  from  the  little  toe  to  the  forehead. 
After  the  morning's  bath  or  sponge  a  good, 
quick  rub  and  without  the  application  of 
any  sort  of  perfumes,  ointments  or 
powders. 

Ointments,  perfumes,  powders  and  other 
cosmetics,  which  so  long  have  been  asso- 
ciated with  the  bath  and  toilets  of  the 
Oriental  beauties,  are  merely  artificial  aids 
to  artificial  lives. 

The  girl  or  woman  given  over  to  slaves 
to  perfume  and  powder,  was  not  expected 
to  last  long.  She  was  just  a  play  toy  for 
the  hour.  She  had  no  energy,  no  initiative, 
no  ambitions,  no  real  work.  How  could 
she,  having  her  breathing  capacity  shut 
down  to  mere  existing  efficiency? 

Such  girls  and  women  never  knew  what 
activities  lay  hidden  in  the  human  body 
and  mind.  The  partial  loss  of  the  skin- 
[105] 


BREATHE   AND   BE   WELL 


breathing  power  was  never  felt,  for  these 
unfortunates  only  existed  as  decorated  and 
degraded  females. 

The  girl  or  woman  of  today  who  wants 
health  of  mind  and  body,  and  all  this  makes 
for  success  and  happiness,  never  should 
plug  the  pores  of  her  skin  by  the  use  of 
cosmetics  and  ointments. 

The  use  of  powder — and  only  PURE 
rice  powder  should  be  used — upon  arms, 
bosom  and  back,  acts  as  a  breathing  inter- 
ferer.  Enameling  the  skin  is  always  an 
invitation  to  self-poisoning.  There  are 
occasions  when  you  must  use  some  form  of 
powder.  That  is,  social  conventions  com- 
pel its  use.  But  you  should  always  re- 
member that  it  is  keeping  your  delicate 
skin  from  exhaling  to  its  full  power.  As 
soon  as  possible  this  powder  and  all  other 
cosmetics  should  be  washed  off,  and  washed 
off  thoroughly,  with  warm  water  and  the 
skin  then  gently  rubbed  with  a  soft  linen 
cloth.  Again  I  caution  you:  Don't  Use 
soap. 

[106] 


BREATHING   THROUGH   THE   SKIN 

The  skin  makes  its  own  pomade,  cold 
cream  and  oil,  and  every  time  you  soap  the 
skin  you  wash  off  these  necessary  greases 
—necessary  because  they  keep  the  pores  in 
a  condition  to  breathe. 

The  girl  or  woman  who  attempts  to  stop 
free  perspiration  is  doing  the  same  sort  of 
injury  to  her  body  and  health  she  would  do 
if  she  tried  to  plug  a  portion  of  her  lungs. 

Yes;  indeed,  I  mean  just  that! 

Unless  the  profuse  perspiring  is  due  to 
extreme  nervousness  or  to  some  real  dis- 
ease, it  means  the  individual's  system  is 
trying  to  rid  itself  of  body  poisons  through 
skin-breathing. 

You  may  bring  on  an  attack  of  acute 
indigestion  or  kidney  poisoning  by  pre- 
venting the  skin  from  breathing  to  the  full. 
Some  persons  are  slow-acting  in  the  kid- 
neys and  liver,  and  the  skin  in  such  cases 
takes  up  the  residue  and  throws  it  off. 
Never  attempt  to  stop  it  doing  so. 

A  profuse  sweating  coming  on  without 
any  effort  on  your  part  is  a  certain  sign 

[107] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


you  have  passed  over  a  serious  state  of  in- 
ternal affairs.  A  chill  without  any  external 
cause  is  a  certain  sign  that  your  skin  has 
stopped  breathing  and  something  serious 
threatens.  In  this  case  the  first  thing  to 
do  before  the  doctor  arrives  is  to  get 
breathing  action  in  the  skin — sweating. 
Drink  plenty  of  hot  water,  go  to  bed 
wrapped  up  in  heavy  blankets  with  hot- 
water  bottles  at  feet  and  round  the  body. 

Drinking  plenty  of  water  is  the  best  way 
of  aiding  skin-breathing.  Before  breakfast 
two  glasses  of  cool  water  always  should  be 
taken.  Drink  lots  of  water  during  the 
day.  Water  also  should  be  taken  at  meals. 
For  the  fleshy  woman  this  is  an  excellent 
way  to  reduce  and  harden  the  flesh,  for  it 
promotes  skin-breathing,  and  this  means  a 
loss  of  extra  fat.  The  old  ideas  about  not 
drinking  water  at  meals  and  that  drinking 
water  increased  the  amount  of  fat,  are 
known  to  have  been  erroneous. 

Many  girls  and  women  cannot  breathe 
properly  through  the  skin  at  night  because 
[108] 


BREATHING   THROUGH    THE   SKIN 

they  go  to  bed  with  an  area  of  the  skin 
covered  by  powder  or  other  pore-plugging 
stuff.  Generally  this  is  due  to  fatigue, 
laziness  or  lack  of  understanding  of  the  evil 
effects.  Other  persons,  both  men  and 
women,  sleep  with  too  heavy  bed  clothing, 
some  with  thick  or  tight  night  clothing. 

Give  the  skin  breathing  room.  Give  it 
air  all  around.  Have  the  bed  clothing  and 
night  apparel  so  light  and  loose  that  the 
air  can  circulate  everywhere  around  and 
under  the  body. 

If  your  skin  itches  or  burns  it  means  that 
either  the  air  does  not  circulate  freely 
around  it  or  else  that  you  have  washed  off 
all  the  natural  grease.  This  latter  condi- 
tion causes  an  unseen  cracking  of  the  outer 
skin,  exposes  the  tiny  nerve  endings  and 
itching  and  burning  sensations  follow. 

This  sort  of  skin  irritation  is  a  skin  cough. 
The  breathing  function  of  the  skin  is  being 
interfered  with  and  it  lets  you  know  the  fact 
by  the  nagging  feeling. 

So  again  I  say:  Give  the  skin  air  if  you 
[  109] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


expect  it  to  breathe  thoroughly  throughout 
the  night  and  be  jolly  and  comfortable, 
thus  helping  the  lungs  and  kidneys  to  do 
their  share  of  health  work. 

There  is  no  organ  or  function  in  the 
human  body  which  will  not  do  more  for 
you  than  all  the  doctors  or  health  authori- 
ties in  the  world  if  you  will  heed  their 
calls  and  signals  for  help  and  learn  to  read 
the  messages  they  send  to  you. 

And  there  is  one  sure  thing:  If  you  dose 
yourself  with  drugs  and  "  cures  "  your  sys- 
tem will  be  deaf,  dumb  and  blind  to  any 
and  all  signals  and  calls.  Drugs  and  nar- 
cotics will  put  your  extensive  and  delicate 
wireless  stations  completely  out  of  order; 
sometimes  so  they  cannot  be  repaired. 

All  men  would  be  far  better  off  if  they 
went  naked  to  bed.  In  this  natural  state 
there  is  always  room  for  the  skin  to  breathe 
freely  and  successfully.  What  if  there 
should  be  a  fire  at  night?  You  will  have 
more  energy  and  be  quicker  in  getting  into 
presentable  shape  than  the  man  who  is 
[110] 


BREATHING   TPIROUGH   THE   SKIN 

lethargic  because  he  has  not  fully  breathed 
every  night  through  his  skin. 

A  man  has  the  right  to  be  ashamed  of 
his  naked  body  if  he  has  not  utilized  all  his 
forces  which  make  for  health  and  physical 
beauty.  But  no  man  has  a  right  to  be 
ashamed  of  a  naked  body  which  shows  per- 
fect health  and  care.  He  should  be  de- 
cently proud  of  such  a  body. 

Any  man  who  has  the  slightest  suspicion 
that  his  kidneys  are  a  bit  slow  in  action, 
can  relieve  them  and  rest  them  by  sleeping 
in  his  bare  skin.  Sleeping  in  bear  skins 
will  play  havoc  with  the  kidneys. 

Sleeping  in  the  bare  skin  compels  an- 
other condition  most  favorable  to  health — 
a  separate  bed  and  wherever  possible  a 
separate  sleeping-room.  Sleeping  in  this 
manner  there  is  space  for  the  skin  to  get 
all  the  benejfits  of  turning  and  tossing  dur- 
ing the  night. 

The  natural  turning  of  the  body  which 
is  not  disturbing,  or  really  a  conscious 
movement,  may  be  likened  to  the  rising  and 
[111] 


BREATHE   AND   BE    WELL 


falling  of  the  breathing  movements  of  the 
chest.  Rolling  over  in  bed  is  nature's 
way  of  getting  every  inch  of  skin  surface 
in  position  to  breathe. 

Women  as  a  rule — and  it  should  be  a 
rule — wear  such  flimsy  and  light  night 
apparel  that  their  skins  find  easy  breathing 
where  it  is  free  from  pore-closing  stuff. 
However,  every  woman  should  try  to  get 
an  air  bath  once  a  day.  This  may  be  had 
by  lying  naked  where  the  warm  or  warmed 
air  can  brush  over  the  body.  But  lying 
round  in  a  bathing  costume  under  a  hot  sun 
should  be  carefully  considered.  Too  long 
pounding  of  the  sun's  rays  upon  the  human 
skin  is  injurious.  Especially  so  is  this 
in  the  case   of  blonds — men   and  women. 

Don't  bundle  or  wrap  the  child  in  close- 
fitting  and  thick  night  clothes.  If  you  are 
afraid  of  a  healthy  child  "  catching  cold  " 
there  is  something  wrong  with  your  knowl- 
edge of  the  rules  for  health. 

Frightening  dreams,  wetting  the  bed, 
colics;  all  the  many  little  and  big  nightly 
[112] 


BREATHING   THROUGH   THE    SKIN 

troubles  and  discomforts  of  the  baby, 
mostly  are  due  to  the  skin  being  pressed 
and  packed  so  it  cannot  freely  breathe. 
The  poisons  accumulating  in  the  little  body 
are  held  back,  finally  get  into  circulation, 
and  then  almost  any  trouble  may  follow. 
And  then  think  of  the  very  large  skin 
surface  a  chubby  child  presents  to  the  air. 
All  its  many  folds,  creases,  dimples,  must 
have  freedom  for  their  pores  to  breathe. 

Don't  powder  the  baby's  sensitive  skin  ex- 
cept in  some  chafed  place.  Even  chafing 
may  be  avoided  if  you  are  careful  not  to  use 
soap  every  time  you  wash  him.  When  you 
have  to  use  a  plain  soap,  see  that  none  of 
it  is  left  in  the  skin  creases  and  folds,  and 
then  held  there  by  tight  bands  or  clothing. 

More  babies  are  bundled  into  feebleness 
than  ever  caught  cold  by  exposure  to  winds 
and  rains.  If  you  accustom  the  child  to 
sleep  so  that  its  lungs  and  skin  get  all  pos- 
sible air  blowing  around,  baby  will  not  catch 
cold  even  if  it  should  be  forgotten  and  left 
out  some  night. 

[113] 


BREATHE   AXD    EE   TTEUL 


As  I  have  stated,  the  great  safety-valve 
of  the  kidneys  is  the  skin — the  skin  that 
can  breathe  as  well  under  the  arms  as  on 
the  abdomen,  on  the  forehead  as  well  as 
through  the  ankle  surface. 

Purposely  I  admonish:  To  breathe 
through  the  skin  for  perfect  health  you 
should  sleep  alone.  This  means  every- 
body: man  and  wife,  brothers,  sisters. 
Only  the  nursing  child  has  an  hygienic 
right  to  be  next  the  mother's  skin  exliala- 
tions. 

Remember  that  the  skin  tlirows  off  dead 
material  every  minute,  just  as  the  lungs  do. 
You  would  not  tliink  of  sleeping  night 
after  night  so  close  to  the  output  of  an- 
other's lungs  that  this  poison  could  be  in- 
haled by  you.  Xeither  should  you  have 
the  emanations  from  another's  skin  circu- 
lating around  your  breatliing  pores. 

Think  this  matter  over  and  you  t^^II 
understand. 

Did  it  ever  occur  to  you  what  influences 
right  breathing  habits  and  the  quality  of 
[114] 


BREATHING   THROUGH   THE   SKIN 

air  breathed,  have  upon  ideas,  views  of 
life,   mental  output? 

Have  you  ever  read  in  the  books  writ- 
ten by  men  who  lived  out-of-doors,  do 
their  work  in  rooms  where  sunlight  and 
oxygen  are  ever  present,  anything  but 
the  joy  of  living— sane,  optimistic  words? 

The  air  they  breathe,  the  long  walks 
with  head  up,  chest  out,  the  deep  inhala- 
tions and  exhalations  bring  to  these  men  and 
women  a  true  and  unpoisoned  sense  of  life 
and  health — mental  balance. 

But  see  into  the  living,  breathing  habits 
of  the  other  kind  of  writers,  especially  the 
foreign,  who  write  in  gaunt  garrets  or 
stuffy  cafes. 

These  half-breathing  men  and  women, 
these  foul-air  consumers,  give  us  what? 

Novels  which  are  so  terrible  and  scarify- 
ing. Books  in  which  only  the  reflection  of 
the  nasty  air  is  seen.  Poems  which  exhale 
bestiality  and  morbid  eroticism. 

No  matter  about  these  writers'  struggle 
with  poverty.  There  is  a  worse  poverty 
[115] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


than  the  material.  It  is  the  poverty  of 
health  due  to  the  intake  of  poisonous  air 
and  the  inability  to  get  rid  of  the  body's 
poisons. 

These  writers,  struggling  with  unhealth, 
can  give  us  only  books  saturated  with  mor- 
bidity, illusion  and  delusion.  The  vitiated 
blood  circulating  in  their  optical  centers 
gives  them  the  illusions;  that  circulating 
among  the  brain  cells,  delusions. 

The  trenchant  bitterness  of  the  shop  so- 
cialist is  mostly  due  to  the  same  causes. 
The  nagging,  dissatisfied  New  England  in- 
valid is  such  because  she  isolates  herself 
in  a  superheated  room,  stuflPs  all  entrances 
where  the  air  might  get  in,  walks  but  little 
and  then  bundled  up  like  an  Esquimau 
baby,  sleeps  with  the  windows  closed  and 
over  her  attenuated  body  a  mountain  of 
feathers  and  heating  quilts,  and  shudders 
at  the  only  thing  she  needs  to  make  her 
well — fresh  air  in  her  lungs  and  driving 
through  her  skin. 


[116] 


CHAPTER  VII 

NEW  TISSUES   FOR  OLD— REJU- 
VENATING THE  BODY  AND 
SKIN 

Many  men  and  women  are  aged  simply 
through  weak  activity  of  those  organs  and 
functions  which  can,  under  proper  condi- 
tions, make  and  put  into  circulation  new 
red  blood  cells. 

It  is  sad  folly  for  one  who  is  overfat 
and  worried  about  facial  wrinkles,  to  ac- 
cept these  conditions  as  necessarily  accom- 
panying years.  The  hopeless  resignation 
to  the  idea  that  one  must  become  wrinkled 
and  stiff -jointed,  loose  the  cheeks  of  youth, 
become  stale  in  health  and  agility,  is  the 
very  sure  way  of  getting  into  this  state. 

One  may  merge  into  the  sixties  and 
seventies  as  gracefully  and  as  happily  as 
into  the  thirties.    There  are  the  same  forces 

[117] 


BREATHE   AND   BE   WELL 


for  making  red  cheeks  in  the  woman  of  sixty 
as  in  the  girl  of  sixteen.  But  generally  we 
find  in  the  older  woman  that  the  red- 
blood  making  power  is  working  only  on 
half-time  and  without  any  care  or  super- 
vision. 

There  is  no  mystery  or  occult  knowledge 
of  the  way  the  proper  breathing  habits  can 
rejuvenate  the  failing  body  and  organs. 
That  such  renewal  can  be  brought  about 
by  developing  the  breathing  organs  and 
muscles  will  be  readily  understood  by  the 
following  explanations  based  upon  very 
recent  discoveries  and  experiments. 

The  increase  in  the  number  of  red  blood 
cells  in  the  body  is  brought  about  by 
mechanical  means.  This  mechanical  work 
is  done  by  the  body  itself,  but  is  not  com- 
pleted without  assistance  on  your  part. 

The  condition  of  the  blood  always  ad- 
justs itself  to  a  variety  of  bodily  and 
environmental  factors.  As  an  example: 
When  you  go  up  into  the  mountains  there 
is  a  decrease  in  atmospheric  pressure. 
[118] 


NEW   TISSUES    FOR   OLD 


This  means  that  the  whole  body  is  re- 
leased from  a  certain  weight  or  pressure  it 
had  to  withstand  in  a  low  altitude. 

This  release  from  a  certain  amount  of 
atmospheric  pressure  on  the  body's  sur- 
face lets  loose  blood  corpuscles  which 
were  confined  and  pressed  in  some  small 
spaces  or  tiny  arteries  and  they  get  into 
the  general  circulation. 

In  middle-aged  persons  and  those  be- 
yond, there  is  an  unequal  distribution  of 
red  blood  cells,  due  to  pressure  of  fat, 
inelastic  arteries  and  weak  diaphragms. 
This  latter  breathing  muscle  may  be,  and 
generally  is,  hindered  in  its  freedom  by  an 
overdistended  stomach  or  intestinal  tract. 

This  state  of  affairs  means  that  red 
blood  corpuscles  are  jammed  in  or  pushed 
aside  to  certain  extremities  or  into  blind 
alleys.  In  these  places  they  are  concen- 
trated, and  unable  to  obtain  oxygen,  the 
cells  die,  leaving  the  cast-off  materials  to 
be  absorbed  and  make  wrinkles  and  cause 
stiff  joints. 

[119] 


BREATHE   AND   BE   WELL 


These  prisoners  —  red  blood  cells  —  in 
their  concentration  camps  cannot  get  out 
except  through  tiresome  efforts,  and  often 
they  have  exhausted  much  of  their  stored- 
up  oxygen  when  they  do  find  freedom. 
Under  these  conditions  they  are  as  useless 
to  the  human  organization  as  a  lot  of 
skillful  mechanics  would  be  crowded  into 
a  room  and  unable  to  get  at  their  respec- 
tive machines. 

Any  mechanical  movement  or  driving 
force  which  stirs  up  these  red  blood  cor- 
puscles puts  them  into  circulation — starts 
them  doing  their  allotted  work  in  reju- 
venating the  body  and  its  organs. 

Certain  forms  of  exercise  will  aid  in 
accomplishing  this  change  from  age  to 
youth,  but  not  unless  right  breathing 
methods  are  rigidly  adopted  and  kept  up. 
Emotional  states,  such  as  fright  and  anger, 
will  also  temporarily  let  loose  locked-up 
red  blood  cells,  but  also  let  loose  evil 
forces  from  the  ductless  glands.*     Conse- 

*  See  "  Sex  Problems  in  Worry  and  Work";  Clode,  publisher. 

[120] 


NEW   TISSUES   FOR   OLD 


quently  this  method  of  releasing  red  blood 
cells  should  be  avoided. 

In  cases  where  vigorous  exercises  are  not 
at  first  advisable,  change  of  atmospheric 
pressure  is  the  primary  treatment  for  un- 
locking red  blood  cells.  For  those  accus- 
tomed to  live  in  a  high  altitude  a  change  to 
a  much  lower  one  is  beneficial.  This  change 
brings  a  pressure  upon  the  body's  surface 
which  squeezes  out  some  of  these  locked-up 
blood  cells,  while  the  same  reaction  through 
release  of  atmospheric  pressure  takes  place 
in  those  going  from  sea-level  to  a  much 
higher  plane. 

But  it  is  not  at  all  necessary  to  make 
these  changes  to  bring  out  the  red  blood  cells 
from  their  prisons  and  hidden  caverns.  You 
can  do  it  in  your  room,  office,  on  a  walk. 
It  is  simply  a  matter  of  first  understand- 
ing, then  breathing  and  exercising.  Under- 
standing enables  you  to  put  to  use  those 
muscles  which  squeeze  out  the  blood  cells; 
knowledge  of  how  to  breathe  gives  them 
their  needed  oxygen.  This  understanding 
[121] 


BREATHE   AND   BE   WELL 


of  what  and  how  to  get  from  the  power 
of  muscle  contraction;  this  knowledge  of 
correct  and  rejuvenating  breathing,  has 
been  lacking  in  all  forms  and  kinds  of  edu- 
cation. Many  methods  and  much  instruc- 
tion have  been  given  about  the  value  and 
necessity  of  deep  and  slow  breathing  ex- 
ercises, and  the  majority  of  them  have 
been  of  great  benefit.  But  the  funda- 
mental facts,  the  physiologic  reasons,  have 
not  been  really  put  before  the  public,  and 
some  of  the  breathing  exercises  not 
founded  upon  these  known  principles  of 
modern  physiology. 

The  body  constantly  makes  an  attempt 
through  mechanical  means  to  regulate  the 
red-corpuscle  content  of  the  blood.  Much 
of  this  regulating  is  under  nervous  con- 
trol. When  there  is  lack  of  oxygen  in 
the  blood  cells  this  condition  reacts  as  a 
stimulant  to  the  nerve-cells,  and  these  try 
to  hurry  up  the  blood  to  greater  circula- 
tory activity — ^to  get  oxygen. 

There  are  two  organs  which  principally 
[122] 


NEW   TISSUES   FOR   OLD 


supply  the  body  with  red  blood  cells 
through  mechanical  action:  the  liver  and 
the  suprarenal  glands.  I  mean  by  this  that 
when  there  is  an  extra  demand  for  red 
blood  cells  this  demand  is  complied  with 
through  the  liver  and  suprarenals  if  they 
can  be  put  to  work. 

So  now  we  come  to  the  real  value  and 
the  true  reason  for  breathing  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  put  these  latter  organs  to 
work  furnishing  red  blood  cells  and  the 
pressure  put  upon  those  imprisoned  to  be 
of  such  a  nature  as  to  free  them. 

It  has  long  been  known  that  massage 
of  the  abdomen  increases  the  number  of 
red  blood  cells,  and  it  has  been  supposed  it 
did  so  by  mechanically  squeezing  the  blood 
cells  themselves  from  their  hiding  and  con- 
fining places  in  the  fatty  or  unmuscled 
abdomen.  But  now  we  know  this  is  not 
the  true  physiological  explanation.  Re- 
member I  am  now  referring  only  to  ab- 
dominal conditions,  but  very  important 
conditions  to  understand. 

[123] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


The  suprarenal  glands  secrete  a  sub- 
stance called  epinephrin.  This  is  a  very 
active  stimulant  to  the  red  blood  cor- 
puscles. Massage  of  the  abdomen  drives 
this  epinephrin  into  action,  which  forces 
the  blood  cells  to  take  up  oxygen — if  by 
proper  breathing  you  are  furnishing  the 
oxygen. 

But  it  does  more.  By  reflex  action  it 
draws  out  from  the  liver  the  red  blood 
cells,  which  also  rush  about  for  oxygen. 

See  what  is  coming  now;  don't  you? 
Some  combination  of  ways  and  means  of 
squeezing  out  blood  cells  and  the  supra- 
renal substance  and  taking  in  oxygen  at 
the  same  time.  This,  systematically  done, 
makes  the  old  young  again. 

The  first  essential  to  look  after,  before 
the  breathing  exercises  commence,  is  to  see 
that  there  is  absolute  freedom  from  cloth- 
ing pressure.  The  whole  trunk — waist, 
neck,  abdomen — must  have  its  vessels  free 
to  send  and  receive  the  full  force  of  the 
blood  stream. 

[124] 


NEW   TISSUES   FOR   OLD 


Overstout  men  who  are  in  the  habit  of 
wearing  abdominal  belts,  of  going  around 
with  a  mass  of  soft  fat  pushed  upwards 
and  inwards  by  "  shape-reducers  "  and  all 
other  artificial  and  ridiculous  signs  of  self- 
satisfaction  and  stupidity,  never  can  real- 
ize the  least  benefit  from  the  most  vigorous 
and  systematic  breathing  exercises.  No, 
not  if  they  do  remove  these  male  corsets 
for  the  time  being.  For  breathing  exer- 
cises mean  much  more  than  the  few  min- 
utes you  stretch  and  breathe  deeply, 
slowly.  They  mean  a  continual  prepared- 
ness to  take  in  fresh  air  whenever  and 
wherever  possible.  They  mean  a  freedom 
and  development  of  the  breathing  muscles 
which  can  be  voluntarily  put  to  work  at 
any  time. 

Stand  in  a  room  where  the  window  is 
open  about  a  foot  at  the  top  and  at  the 
bottom.  This  permits  a  good  and  active 
air  circulation.  Stretch  the  arms  outward, 
upward  and  backward.  Do  this  several 
times.  Then  clasp  the  arms  behind  the 
[125] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


back,  stretching  them  so  that  the  shoulders 
are  drawn  to  a  straining  point.  Release 
and  exhale  through  the  nose.  Take  deep 
and  SLOW  inhalations,  letting  the  air  out 
of  your  lungs  through  the  nose. 

Now  bend  the  arms  upon  themselves 
good  and  tight;  both  at  the  same  time, 
then  alternately.  Let  them  hang  down 
passively  while  you  turn  and  twist  the 
neck.  Do  this  six  or  eight  times,  or  until 
you  know  by  the  feeling  the  skin  has  been 
stretched.  Bring  down  your  chin  until 
it  either  touches  the  root  of  the  neck  or 
presses  upon  the  double  or  triple  chin 
folds.  Throw  back  the  head,  putting  a 
good  tension  upon  the  forepart  of  the  neck. 

During  these  simple  exercises  you  are  to 
breathe  only  through  the  nose.  When  you 
feel  "  out  of  breath  "  take  a  good  inhala- 
tion, hold  it  for  a  moment,  then  exhale  with 
two  or  three  puffs  from  the  mouth. 

Now  keep  the  mouth  tightly  closed  and 
breathe  only  through  the  nose  during  the 
following  exercises.  Head  up,  shoulders 
[126] 


NEW   TISSUES   FOR   OLD 


back,  heels  together,  bend  one  leg  back- 
ward at  the  knee.  Take  hold  of  its  foot 
with  the  corresponding  hand  and  bend  it  to 
the  cracking  point.  Release  the  foot  and 
bring  it  to  the  floor.  Repeat  this  move- 
ment six  times.  Do  the  same  with  the 
other  lower  leg.  Then  the  same  movement, 
but  using  the  opposite  hand.  That  is,  left 
foot,  right  hand;  right  foot,  left  hand. 
Erect,  take  a  long,  slow  breath  and  ex- 
hale it  through  the  nose;  another  one  and 
blow  it  out  through  the  mouth,  and  for- 
ever after,  until  further  instruction,  breathe 
only  through  the  nose. 

Again  upright,  head  and  shoulders  back, 
commence  to  breathe  deeply  and  slowly. 
Each  time  hold  the  intake  for  three  sec- 
onds, then  exhale  through  the  nose.  Keep 
this  up  for  five  minutes. 

In  the  same  position,  place  your  open 
hands  on  the  soft  spots  just  over  and 
slightly  in  front  of  the  hip  bone.  Grab 
a  fold  of  flesh  and  fat  in  each  hand,  and 
as  you  inhale  slowly  and  deeply,  let  the 

[127] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


folds  of  flesh  gently  glide,  but  not  get 
away  from  your  grasp.  Exhale  slowly, 
taking  up  and  pushing  up  the  flesh  as  it 
rolls  under  your  hands.  Now  hold  your 
breath  for  a  moment  while  giving  the 
fleshy  rolls  a  good  hard  pinch  and  grasp. 
Repeat  several  times  until  the  grasped  and 
pinched  sides  are  literally  red  and  slightly 
sensitive. 

The  above-described  simple  exercises 
should  be  kept  up  for  two  weeks. 

Assuming  you  are  the  average  man  or 
woman  of  forty  and  over  with  a  stomach 
to  reduce  and  diaphragm  to  strengthen, 
get  a  shot  bag  with  buckshot  in  it.  For 
the  average  man  six  pounds  in  a  full-sized 
shot  bag,  for  the  average  woman  four 
pounds.  The  shot  bag  will  only  be  partly 
filled. 

On  your  back  in  bed,  no  pillows  or  bol- 
ster, place  the  bag  upon  your  abdomen.  If 
it  is  a  mountainous  or  hilly  abdomen  you 
will  have  to  gently  hold  the  bag  in  place. 
With  what  voluntary  movements  of  the 
[128] 


NEW   TISSUES   FOR   OLD 


belly  muscles  it  is  possible  for  you  to 
make,  move  the  shot  bag  around;  toss, 
jump  it.  Use  some  effort;  get  "out  of 
breath."  When  you  feel  you  must  expel 
through  the  mouth,  rise,  and  in  an  upright 
position  expel  through  the  mouth.  Then 
inhale  and  exhale  a  few  times  through  the 
nose.  Lie  down  again  and  go  through 
the  bag  tossing  and  rolling. 

One  thing  to  always  keep  on  the  mind. 
All  breathing  exercises  should  be  taken 
standing  upright.  Don't  try  any  gym- 
nastic stunts  and  keep  breathing  at  the 
same  time.  When  air  is  needed  in  the 
lungs — extra  air  of  course — assume  the 
upright  position  and  breathe  slowly  and 
deeply.  If  you  try  this  rational  method 
of  right  breathing  when  in  some  body- 
stretched  position,  the  diaphragm  is  put 
upon  a  strain  and  in  time  its  tone  will 
be  lowered. 

The  extraordinary  effects  seen  in  the 
professional  physical  culturist  when  he  in- 
flates his  chest  and  then  blows  out  through 
[129] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


his  mouth  to  show  how  completely  the 
lungs  can  be  emptied,  are  for  exhibition 
effects  only.  It  makes  more  noise,  pro- 
duces upon  the  spectator  the  idea  of  won- 
derful power,  and  the  slight  bending  of 
the  trunk  of  the  body  accentuates  the 
abdominal  muscles. 

Try  this  way  of  completely  emptying 
your  lungs  and  you  will  find  it  apparently 
a  much  easier  way  than  the  several  move- 
ments necessary  to  empty  them  through 
the  natural  channels  for  breathing — the 
nose.  But  just  because  it  is  easier  is  why 
harm  is  done.  You  cannot  fully  develop 
the  diaphragm  unless  you  use  it  to  force 
the  air  in  the  lungs  upwards  and  outwards 
through  the  nasal  passages.  To  get  this 
air  thoroughly  expelled  it  takes  two  or 
three  muscular  contractions  of  the  dia- 
phragm. Forcing  the  air  by  the  shorter 
way,  through  the  mouth,  takes  only  slight 
effort  in  which  the  external  muscles  of  the 
stomach,  aided  by  bending,  mechanically 
push  it  out. 

[130] 


NEW    TISSUES   FOR   OLD 


In  driving  the  air  from  the  lungs 
through  the  nose,  you  are  forced  to  stand 
correctly,  head  back,  neck  extended.  Blow- 
ing through  the  mouth  you  natm-ally  stoop 
somewhat.  Furthermore,  the  back  muscles, 
when  j^ou  breathe  through  the  nose,  come 
into  play,  wliich  is  important  for  the  man's 
development,  and  the  ribs  are  forced  to 
rise  higher  and  sink  lower,  which  is  of  im- 
portance in  the  chest  development  of  the 
woman. 

When  you  leave  a  room  to  get  into 
the  stimulating  air  of  outdoors,  you  feel 
as  though  you  would  like  to  actually  swal- 
low some  of  it.  Now,  under  these  circmn- 
stances  it  will  be  all  right  to  exliale  from 
your  mouth  for  a  minute  or  so.  But 
when  you  have  done  so,  start  right  breath- 
ing through  the  nose  and  do  not  again 
use  the  mouth  until  another  period  of 
close  air  breathing  has  been  your  un- 
fortunate lot. 

Remember  this  about  mouth-breathing: 
The  teeth  and  mucous  membrane  of  the 

[131] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


mouth  were  not  made  to  withstand  a  con- 
stant spraying  of  carbonic  acid.  This  is 
the  kind  of  spraying  they  get  when  the 
habit  of  mouth-breathing  is  kept  up. 

Be  certain  to  take  the  measurements  of 
your  chest  and  waist  every  week.  The 
first  two  weeks  will  end  in  disappoint- 
ment, the  third  week  will  be  the  com- 
mencement of  hope,  the  fourth,  joy. 

Of  course  the  stomach  dancing  of  the 
shot  bag  is  in  addition  to  all  the  other 
exercises  outlined  and  should  end  the 
night's  work.  Much  faster  improvement 
will  be  made  and  all  tendencies  to  con- 
stipation more  quickly  removed,  if  you 
spend  five  minutes  every  morning  with  the 
shot  bag. 

By  these  various  exercises  superfluous  fat 
is  worked  off  and  burnt  up.  The  dia- 
phragm comes  under  your  voluntary  con- 
trol to  an  extent  that  will  astonish  you. 
With  the  diaphragm  under  full  control 
of  your  will  you  need  never  again  become 
[132] 


NEW   TISSUES   FOR   OLD 


overfat,  out-of -breath  climbing  stairs,  puffy 
nor  constipated. 

After  four  weeks  of  the  exercises  I  have 
described,  you  may  commence  vigorous 
bending,  twisting,  stretching  of  all  the 
trunk  muscles.  No  specific  directions  are 
needed  for  these  exercises  except  to  state 
that  whatever  part  of  your  trunk  muscles 
seem  to  rebel,  go  to  them.  Let  no  seem- 
ing difficulty  prevent  you  from  conquering 
any  particular  muscle  or  group  of  muscles. 
The  information  I  have  given  regarding 
the  confined  and  pressed-in  red  blood  cells, 
will  make  the  reasons  and  necessity  for  all 
these  twistings  and  turnings  of  the  body 
upon  the  hips  plain  to  you. 

If  you  go  at  this  vigorously  you  will  re- 
quire— or  your  new  blood  cells  will — a  large 
amount  of  extra  oxygen.  You  will  find 
the  deep,  slow  breathing  after  a  few  mo- 
ments of  this  form  of  exercise  not  only 
necessary,  but  compelling  and  exceedingly 
pleasing. 

Hold  your  mouth  tightly  closed  while 
[133] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


twisting  and  bending  and  also  hold  your 
breath  as  much  as  possible.  Then  when  it 
is  no  longer  possible  to  proceed  with  the 
exercise  without  letting  out  the  breath, 
stop,  open  your  mouth  and  empty  your 
lungs.  Now,  close  your  mouth  and  breathe 
slowly  and  deeply  through  the  nose.  Start 
again  with  the  body  bending  and  twisting 
stunts,  repeating  the  breathing  methods. 
Keep  up  this  exercise  for  ten  minutes. 

All  these  exercises  must  take  place  when 
the  stomach  is  fairly  empty.  That  is,  they 
never  should  follow  a  full  meal,  when  you 
feel  really  exhausted — not  simply  tired  or 
a  bit  lazy — nor  after  any  nervous  strain  or 
emotional  period.  These  latter  states  may 
be  benefited  and  recovery  hastened  by 
simply  breathing  slowly  and  deeply  in  the 
open  air.  But  all  this  should  be  done 
without  extra  effort  and  cease  just  as 
soon  as  it  causes  effort. 

There  are  many  reasons  why  one  should 
always  breathe  through  the  nose  aside  from 
those  I  have  mentioned.  But  to  go  into 
[  134  ] 


NEW   TISSUES   FOR   OLD 


details  would  lead  us  far  beyond  our  legiti- 
mate bounds.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  lin- 
ing of  the  nose  contains  many  nerve  endings 
and  bulbs,  which  carry  various  and  some- 
times curious  messages  to  the  brain  and 
nerve  centers.  Irritation  of  these  nerves, 
inability  to  function,  over-stimulation,  all 
and  each  sort  of  disarrangement,  play 
havoc  with  man  and  woman.  The  general 
health  can  be  affected,  hidden  impulses  sent 
rioting,  eyes  weakened  and  olfactory  and 
other  senses  injured. 

These  sensitive  push  -  buttons  located 
along  the  nasal  passages  are  kept  in  a 
healthy  condition  by  the  air  passing  to  and 
fro;  by  the  carbonic  acid  solutions,  alter- 
nate cooling  and  warming,  constant  secret- 
ing of  a  protective  fluid. 

Man  uses  his  diaphragm  and  back  mus- 
cles in  breathing  somewhat  differently  than 
woman  does.  Especially  does  he  need  to 
develop  those  muscles  in  the  small  of  the 
back,  as  they  help  push  up  and  draw  down 
the  big  breathing  muscle.  Woman,  in 
[135] 


BREATHE   AND   BE   WELL 


breathing,  uses  more  of  her  chest  muscles 
and  these  are  of  greater  importance  for 
her  to  strengthen  than  the  back  muscles. 

Stretching  of  the  arms  in  all  directions 
while  standing  upright;  the  steady  infla- 
tion and  deflation  of  the  lung  cavity,  free- 
dom at  all  times  from  any  confining  pres- 
sure on  the  trunk  of  her  body  from  the 
upper  part  of  her  neck  to  the  lower  ribs, 
are  conditions  absolutely  necessary  for 
woman's  chest  development. 

Corsets  which  fit  snugly  around  the 
waist  and  hips  do  not  interfere  with  a 
woman's  ability  to  breathe  correctly.  But 
she  must  practice  breathing  exercises  so  as 
to  develop  the  upper  portions  of  her  lungs 
and  give  the  ribs  every  opportunity  to 
expand  and  contract  the  chest  cavity.  This 
only  can  be  done  while  she  stands  free 
from  all  clothing  except  such  as  merely 
hangs  loosely  from  her  waist.  If  modesty 
has  gone  so  far  into  her  system  that  she 
cannot  look  at  her  naked  trunk,  then  a 
weightless  blouse  will  suffice. 
[136] 


NEW   TISSUES   FOR   OLD 


An  infant  breathes  almost  entirely  by 
the  movements  of  the  diaphragm.  This 
important  fact  all  mothers  should  never 
forget.  They  will  then  see  that  no  pressure 
of  bands  or  clothes  prevents  free  move- 
ments of  the  little  one's  belly  muscles,  and 
well  understand  why  the  child  should  never 
be  propped  up  in  cradle  or  carriage. 

You  can  derive  only  partial  benefit  from 
right  breathing  if  your  body  is  constantly 
taking  in  even  small  quantities  of  alcohol. 

Alcohol  robs  the  blood  cells  of  oxygen, 
for  oxygen  has  great  affinity  for  alcohol, 
or  alcohol  has  for  oxygen.  It  makes  little 
difference;  the  point  is,  that  as  soon  as 
alcohol  goes  into  the  system  it  is  oxidized. 

But  only  a  certain  amount  is  burnt  up — 
oxidized.  Exceed  this  amount,  and  be- 
cause there  is  not  sufficient  oxygen  to  burn 
it  up — and  no  extent  of  breathing  oxygen 
in  can  do  it — one  becomes  poisoned  by  the 
alcohol   and   its   by-products. 

It  is  true  that  in  the  average  person 
about  two  ounces  of  alcohol  can  be  com- 

[137] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


pletely  burned  up  every  twenty-four  hours. 
But  common  sense  will  tell  you  that  all 
this  oxygen  is  wasted,  because  if  it  did  not 
have  to  work  upon  the  alcohol  it  would  be 
working  upon  the  blood  cells. 

This  is  why  drinkers  get  old  far  beyond 
their  years. 

Hope  is  only  an  expression  of  a  clean 
body  and  clean  mind.  Its  foundations  are 
oxygenated  blood  cells. 

The  reverse  of  hope  is  depression;  its 
real  meaning  is  that  there  is  some  lack  of 
oxygenated  blood  cells  and  freedom  to  cir- 
culate is  somehow  restrained  in  others. 

This  is  the  explanation  of  the  change 
taking  place  in  you  when  you  start  to  work 
depressed  in  spirits,  but  come  home — if  you 
have  walked  and  breathed  deeply — feeling 
hopeful  and  elated. 


[138] 


CHAPTER  VIII 

SOME  SIMPLE  BREATHING 
EXERCISES 

Oxygen  is  the  only  stimulant  upon 
which  you  can  safely  rely  as  a  depression 
chaser  and  body  builder. 

All  breathing  exercises  should  have  for 
their  one  purpose  the  forcing  of  oxygen 
into  all  parts  of  the  body. 

Breathing  exercises  should  not  be  con- 
fused with  physical  exercises,  for  while 
breathing  means  physical  and  nervous 
strength,  by  itself  it  has  nothing  to  do  with 
mere  muscular  development.  However,  it 
is  almost  impossible  to  have  oxygen  freely 
circulating  in  the  body  without  the  good 
effects  showing  in  muscular  development. 

For  example:  In  many  breathing  ex- 
ercises in  order  to  learn  to  control  the 
breath  and  force  it  to  cause  pressure  upon 
[139] 


BREATHE   AND    BE    WELL 


muscles  or  organs,  resistance  and  concen- 
tration are  necessary.  This  resistance  de- 
velops muscular  tissue.  Place  your  hands, 
interlocked,  behind  your  head.  The  back 
of  the  head  should  rest  against  the  palms. 
Now  try  to  push  the  head  backwards,  re- 
sisting it  by  pressure  of  the  hands.  Every 
muscle  in  the  neck  and  hands,  arms,  shoul- 
ders, will  be  put  upon  tension.  While 
doing  this  hold  your  breath  and  keep  up 
the  resistance  of  the  opposing  forces  just 
as  long  as  you  can  hold  your  breath.  Let 
the  arms  drop  passively  to  the  sides  as  you 
let  out  the  breath  slowly  through  the 
mouth.  Return  to  the  same  tension  atti- 
tude, but  this  time  let  the  breath  out  of 
the  nostrils  at  second  intervals.  Take  a 
deep,  slow  breath  and  repeat. 

This  method  of  tension  and  concentra- 
tion should  be  exercised  with  every  group 
of  opposing  muscles  in  the  body  accom- 
panied by  the  breathing  details.  For  in- 
stance: Stoop  over  with  arms  hanging 
down.  Now  imagine,  or  make  it  an  actual 
[  140  ] 


SOME    SIMPLE   BREATHING   EXERCISES 

physical  fact  through  resistance,  that  you 
are  lifting  a  heavy  weight.  Pull  upwards, 
holding  the  breath.  After  the  tenseness 
of  arm  and  back  muscles,  legs  and  ab- 
domen is  telling  upon  your  lung  strain, 
resume  the  upright  position  and  exhale 
slowly  through  the  mouth.  Take  a  deep, 
slow  inhalation,  hold  it  and  repeat  the  ten- 
sion exercise,  but  then  exhale  through  the 
nose. 

After  a  few  moments  of  this  work 
breathe  deeply,  slowly,  and  place  the  hands 
over  the  pit  of  the  stomach.  Gently  feel 
if  the  diaphragm  is  doing  the  air  forcing 
instead  of  the  chest  muscles.  If  not,  keep 
up  the  exercises  day  after  day  until  you 
realize  that  it  is  the  big  belly  muscle  you 
have  under  control  as  well  as  the  rib 
muscles. 

All  animals  upon  rising  from  sleep  or 
rest  first  stretch  every  limb  and  muscle  be- 
fore facing  the  sun  and  breathing  deeply 
and  slowly. 

The  child  should  be  taught  to  stretch, 
[141] 


BREATHE  AND   BE   WELL 


reach,  with  hands,  fingers,  feet  and  toes. 
Get  it  to  play  "  toe  reaching  "  in  the  morn- 
ing as  an  exercise  in  dressing.  Where 
there  are  two  or  more  little  children  the 
game  may  be  made  quite  interesting  to 
them. 

The  child  standing  upright,  shoulders 
back,  arms  relaxed,  may  have  the  stockings 
and  shoes  just  far  enough  away  to  make  it 
real  play  to  try  to  reach  out  with  one  leg 
and  foot  and  pick  up  the  stocking  with  the 
toes,  then  draw  it  to  the  extended  hand. 

First  the  right  foot  for  the  right  stock- 
ing, then  the  left  foot  for  the  left  stock- 
ing. The  same  movement  should  be  gone 
through  in  reaching  for  the  shoes. 

Teach  the  child  to  stand  while  putting 
on  the  stockings,  meanwhile  holding  its 
breath.  The  child  should  let  out  the  breath 
by  a  slow,  very  slow  action.  Don't  let 
the  child  blow  out  the  air  with  muscular 
efforts — ^just  let  the  air  "  die  out." 

You  will  have  to  use  patience  and  under- 
standing with  the  child  before  this  breath- 
[142] 


SOME   SIMPLE   BREATHING   EXERCISES 

ing  movement  becomes  natural  and  un- 
conscious; but  it  is  the  only  way  if  you 
v/ant  to  bring  about  the  wonderful  effects 
of  proper  breathing.  And  remember  this: 
Once  this  natural  way  of  rhythmical 
breathing  is  brought  about  it  continues 
throughout  life,  and  health  and  immunity 
from  colds,  lung  troubles,  are  secured,  and 
the  blood  is  ever  making  new  red  cells. 

With  heels  together,  holding,  or  what  it 
really  should  be,  controlling,  the  breath  so 
that  only  a  little  gets  out  through  puffing 
cheeks,  the  child  should  rise  and  fall  upon 
the  balls  of  its  feet.  This  exercise  de- 
velops the  calves  of  the  legs  and 
strengthens  the  back.  But  it  does  far 
more;  it  makes  the  diaphragm  rhythmically 
rise  and  fall,  keeps  the  upper  chest  from 
doing  more  than  its  share  and  permits 
free  movement  of  the  lower  portion  of 
the  lungs. 

What  is  meant  in  this  sense  of  rhythmic 
breathing  is  that  the  diaphragm  will  rise 
and  fall  in  its  full  strength,  is  controlled 
[  143] 


BREATHE   AND   BE   WELL 


by  the  will  and  habituated  to  move  deeply 
and  so  cause  a  wave  or  motion  to  pass 
over  all  the  internal  organs. 

Emotions,  regulation  of  heart-beats, 
movements  of  breathing,  should  all  be 
linked  so  that  the  control  of  one  organ 
or  function  controls  the  others.  This  ac- 
quired state  means  bodily  and  mental 
poise — that  condition  which  demonstrates 
an  exact  rhythm  under  normal  excitement, 
exercise  or  elation.  Rapid,  shallow  breath- 
ing under  excitement  shows  want  of  con- 
trol over  breathing  muscles,  especially  that 
of  the  diaphragm. 

But  there  are  such  wonderful  under- 
lying forces  in  really  deep  breathing  that 
once  you  form  the  habit  it  takes  care  of 
the  body  and  its  nervous  organization. 
This  latter  fact  accounts  for  the  displace- 
ment of  rapid,  shallow  breathing  by  slow, 
deep  breathing,  and  the  bodily  rhythm 
started  keeps  the  whole  system  from  being 
upset. 

For  the  adult  the  same  form  or  any 
[  144  ] 


SOME   SIMPLE   BREATHING   EXERCISES 

modified  method  which  will  compel  stretch- 
ing and  control  of  the  breath  should  be 
adopted.  Especially  valuable  will  be  the 
exercise  of  rising  and  falling  upon  the 
balls  of  the  feet.  While  doing  this  you 
must  carefully  observe  the  way  the  breath 
tries  to  blow  out  or  get  away  from  your 
control. 

Hold  the  breath  and  let  it  out  slowly 
and  only  under  your  control.  This  is  for 
the  development  and  rhythmic  habit  of  the 
diaphragm.  The  young  woman  will  find 
that,  simple  as  these  exercises  seem,  they 
will  soon  bring  about  rounding  curves  and 
red  cheeks. 

Don't  try  any  stretching  exercises  with 
the  lungs  empty  of  air.  Always  stretch 
on  a  full  breath  and  while  you  are  holding 
it.  Contract  the  muscles  of  arms,  legs, 
whichever  group  you  are  working  on  at 
the  time,  while  holding  your  breath.  Then 
relax  the  muscles  and  immediately  exhale 
very  slowly:  the  first  time  through  the 
mouth,  afterwards  through  the  nostrils. 
[  145] 


BREATHE   AND    BE   WELL 


For  example:  You  want  shapely  hands 
and  wrists.  Stretch  the  arms  at  right 
angles  to  your  body.  Stretch  them  until 
the  elbows  creak.  Bend  each  finger 
tensely;  squeeze  the  palms.  Now  relax 
and  let  the  breath  slowly  leave  the  lungs. 
Take  a  deep  inhalation;  hold  it  and  then 
stretch  some  other  muscle  or  group  of 
muscles — legs,  neck,  ankle — emptying  the 
lungs  through  the  nostrils.  When  you 
feel  the  red  blood  tingling  in  the  tips  of 
the  fingers  or  in  any  part,  you  have 
stretched  and  forced  the  oxygen,  you  may 
be  sure  you  are  building  health  and  lon- 
gevity— keeping  old  age  away. 

I  do  not  believe  there  is  any  advantage 
in  breathing  first  through  one  nostril  and 
then  through  another  as  is  advised  by  some 
teachers  of  breathing.  The  nostrils  are 
intended  to  take  in  oxygen  together  where 
the  warmed  air  streams  can  meet  as  one 
and  pass  to  the  entrance  of  the  lungs. 

There  is  no  more  reason  to  use  the  nos- 
trils separately  and  alternately  than  there 
[  146  ] 


SOME   SIMPLE   BREATHING   EXERCISES 

is  to  run  a  two-cylinder  car  first  on 
one  cylinder,  then  on  the  other.  If  you 
suspect  trouble  in  one  and  use  this  method 
to  detect  the  faulty  one,  all  very  well. 
Use  the  single  nostril  for  this  same  pur- 
pose and  for  this  purpose  only. 

A  splendid  way  to  develop  chest  capacity, 
stretch  the  muscles  and  learn  to  control  the 
breath,  is  to  stand  in  an  open  doorway  with 
your  hands  firmly  grasping  the  sides  of 
the  door  space. 

Heels  together,  head  up,  let  your  body 
fall  forward,  moving  upon  the  balls  of  the 
feet.  The  body  must  be  held  rigid,  but  not 
too  tense,  and  go  forward  as  far  as  pos- 
sible without  letting  go  of  the  hand  grasp. 
Swing  back  upon  the  balls  of  your  feet 
until  the  heels  touch  the  floor.  Do  this 
several  times,  meanwhile  holding  the  breath. 
Drop  the  hands  to  the  sides,  then  exhale 
slowly,  first  through  the  mouth  and  ever 
afterward  through  the  nostrils.  Make  no 
muscular  eff'ort  at  inhaling  or  exhaling,  but 

[147] 


BREATHE   AND    BE    WELL 


let  the  diaphragm  contract  and  expand  at 
its  own  volition. 

If  you  find  that  this  latter  muscle  is 
somewhat  reluctant  to  do  its  full  share  of 
work,  close  your  nostrils  by  pressing  your 
fingers  upon  them  and  hold  your  breath 
until  there  is  a  feeling  of  upward  pressure 
in  the  abdominal  regions.  Then  release  the 
nostrils  and  let  the  diaphragm  push  out  the 
air  SLOWLY.  By  repeated  tests  and  ex- 
perience you  can  readily  get  control  over 
the  diaphragm.  And  remember  that  you 
have  not  reached  the  point  of  deep  breath- 
ing for  health  until  you  have  this  control 
over  the  big  breathing  muscle. 

Persons  who  have  reached  middle  life 
can  just  as  surely  learn  to  control  the 
breath  as  they  can  their  muscles — so  can 
the  elderly  man  or  woman  if  they  will  stick 
to  it.  Controlling  the  breath  is  exactly 
the  same  thing  as  controlling  any  other 
function  where  muscular  tissues  are  con- 
cerned. Breathing  slowly,  breathing 
deeply,  holding  the  air  and  expelling  it  as 
[148] 


SOME   SIMPLE   BREATHING  EXERCISES 

you  will,  only  is  done  through  control 
of  all  the  breathing  muscles. 

Merely  holding  the  breath  until  you  are 
FORCED  to  let  it  blow  out  because  you 
cannot  help  it,  IS  NOT  CONTROL  OF 
THE  BREATHING  MUSCLES. 

If  you  have  strengthened  the  abdominal 
muscles  you  may  derive  benefit  from  deep- 
breathing  exercises  while  lying  down  in 
bed.  If  you  have  not  developed  these 
abdominal  muscles  this  form  of  attempting 
to  control  the  diaphragm  is  somewhat  risky 
because  you  will  naturally  resort  to  the  use 
of  the  external  belly  muscles  instead  of 
the  diaphragm,  to  press  out  the  eager  air. 

One  could  continue  to  tiresome  lengths 
in  pointing  out  the  many  ways  and 
methods  by  which  air  may  be  sent  to  all 
parts  of  the  body,  but  understanding  the 
principles  and  reasons  for  this  necessary 
accomplishment  ought  to  be  sufficient  for 
the  reader.  Moreover,  each  individual  will 
find  pleasure  in  devising  new  and  ingenious 
[  149] 


BREATHE   AND   BE   WELL 


ways  to  suit  his  or  her  individual  needs  and 
peculiarities. 

"What  is  life?" 

"  Life  is  the  interval  between  one  breath  and 
another — he  who  only  half  breathes  only  half 
lives,  but  he  who  uses  Nature's  rhythm  in  breath- 
ing has  control  over  every  function  of  his  being." 
— F row,  the  Sanskrit. 


THE  END 


[150] 


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